


A Better Life For You and Me

by Llamaking



Series: A Better World For You [1]
Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Background Relationships, Denial of Feelings, Eric Cartman Being An Asshole, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hogwarts Inter-House Relationships, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Mutual Pining, References to Depression, References to anxiety, Slow Burn, Underage Drinking, clyde and craig are just really good bros, especially when craigs a useless homosexual, kyle is a ball of anger, like characters and scenes, mentions of mental illnesses, some parts go with the books?, theres some characters from harry potter too, tokens a mom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-03-13 11:19:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 65,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13569510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llamaking/pseuds/Llamaking
Summary: Going to Hogwarts meant change for everyone. Start to new friendships, meeting new enemies.Stan had come up with a perfect game plan for his Hogwarts life. Get good grades, get into the quidditch team, get a pretty girlfriend, and most importantly, get into gryffindor. Following the plan meant a better life for Stan. But a certain redhead that crash landed in his life messed it all up. Things happen for the better, right?As much as Kyle loved the magical world, deep within himself he knew that he didn't fit in. Everyone knew magic already while he could barely understand the first page in his textbook. Who knew there was so much prejudice between purebloods and muggleborns. Kyle just wanted to go back to his normal life, no matter how many friends he made at Hogwarts.For Tweek, going to a school with other people was the last thing he wanted. He spent his whole life home schooled and working at the family coffee shop. Making coffee? Easy, he could do it in his sleep. But a school which sent him a personal letter of invitation? No way man, that's too much pressure!Going to Hogwarts meant change, but what happens if you don't want change in your life?





	1. Fire Whiskeys and Fiery Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is actually my first fanfic I've written so tips, advices, and opinions are always appreciated! 
> 
> This is a hogwarts au for south park kids, but there will be some characters and scenes that are from the harry potter series. Some characters will be appearing during a similar time period as the books, but for different reasons.

“Hey, hey Sharon. Look Sharon it’s the Weasley twins store Sharon. Do you wanna go look?” 

 

“Randy for the last time. We’re here for Stan’s Hogwarts shopping, not for your entertainment.” Stan glanced up to his once again bickering parents and sighed. There he was, thinking that if they weren’t cooped up in their small home and if his dad wasn’t drunk, maybe they wouldn’t argue. And boy was he wrong. The three managed to buy Stan’s Hogwarts uniform and a few essential supplies before his dad found the joke store. His sister, Shelly, found her friends the moment they arrived at Diagon Alley, leaving Stan alone with his parents. 

 

Stan envied Shelly all his life, especially after she started attending Hogwarts. She would send letters back home once in a while, writing about how much fun she was having in her school while Stan sat around the house, playing with his dog, Sparky. Her friends would come over during the summer and they would spend hours laughing in Shelly’s room. Sure Stan had every right to leave the house and make friends, but he could never bring himself to it. And seeing Shelly run off with her friends sparked jealousy within him, stronger than ever. 

“Stanley? Are you listening?” his mom’s warm voice put an end to his thoughts. Stan cracked a smile and nodded towards her. “Alright. Well we’re going to go buy your books before your father decides to go to the joke store and spend all his money there.” Stan silently began following his mom, knowing what’ll happen if he didn’t and ignored his dad’s incoherent mumblings about Sharon. 

 

The book store, as predicted, was crammed with families getting their last minute shopping done. The Marsh family somehow weaved through the sea of wizards and landed themselves in front of the 1st year book collections. Stan’s eyes widened at the sight of the books he would have to study off of for the next school year. Each book was probably thicker than any of the books he had at his house, filled with fine print and minimal pictures. He cringed at the thought of needing to use the books for class. He reached for one of the books when, suddenly, someone bumped into him, causing him to fall into the books. Stan shook himself off the books and glared over at the asshole that ran into him. His glare, however, died as soon as he saw the mystery person. 

 

In front of Stan stood a nervous boy, wearing a bright green ushanka on his head. Some red hair peeked out from underneath his hat. His green eyes shined with curiosity as he pointed at the books behind Stan. 

 

“Are those books for Hogwarts?” he asked with a small, polite voice. Stan blinked at him, unable to understand his confusion. Every kid knew where the books were, parents drilled it into their kid’s brain every time they would go to Diagon Alley. Unless- “Oh uh you see I’m not from a magical family you know? First interaction with magic and shit like that.” the boy scoffed and crossed his arms.  _ Did he come from a family of squibs?  _ Stan found himself thinking. “Sorry, my parents are completely new to this whole magic concept and are useless right now. I tried searching up about it, but all I get are blogs of some middle school kid saying they have magical powers. I asked around on twitter and tumblr, but people just think I’m asking for some magical role play. Let’s just say I’m scarred for life. People kept messaging me about their ‘13 inches of pure magic’.” Stan stared at the boy, unable to apprehend what he was saying. What was this twitter and tumblr he was saying? Why was having a 13 inch wand so bad?

 

Then it clicked in Stan’s brain. He grabbed the boy’s hands, ignoring his cries of surprise. He pulled the redhead closer and spoke quickly. “You’ve never seen magic have you?” Hearing this, the boy turned almost as red as his hair. His eyes darted around the store and dropped his voice. 

 

“Never. I didn’t know about this whole ‘Hogwarts’ thing until I got a letter of acceptance. My mom went bat shit crazy about it. Now keep it quiet, would you? I don’t want to seem like a loser.” He finished nervously and retracted his hands from Stan’s. 

 

Stan stared at the boy in awe, not believing what he had just heard. The first person he meets and has an interaction with in fucking Diagon Alley was a muggle born. His face broke into a wide grin, making the boy raise an eyebrow. “Dude! That’s fucking awesome! I’ve always wanted to be friends with a muggle born. Tell me about your muggle life. Is it true you guys don’t fly? Or that you don’t have quidditch? Oh, and how your pictures don’t-” 

 

“Stanley! We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Where did you run off to young man!” 

 

“Kyle! We thought we lost you! First we go to this magical street and now you suddenly disappear?!” 

 

Stan’s bombarding questions were interrupted by very angry mothers glaring down at the boys. The boy, whose name was apparently Kyle, quickly started telling excuses to his mom. “No no no, mom. I was just asking-” Kyle looked over at Stan, eyes wide with panic. 

 

“Ma’am sorry I took your son away from you. I was simply teaching Kyle about the wizarding world. I figured he would want some help getting books.” Stan lied expertly and Kyle let out the breath he was holding. Kyle’s mom stared at Stan quizzically at first, but smiled warmly at him after hearing how her son was getting help.

 

Stan watched as his mom started asking about Kyle and how hard it must be to get used to the idea of magic. Kyle turned to Stan with a relieved smile and started to say something, but got cut off by Stan’s dad running towards them. “HEY, hey Sharon. Hey Sharon. Look Sharon I’ve been talking to this muggle for the last 10 minutes. They have something called electricity.” 

 

Stan groaned loudly. He wished he could dig a hole and hide in it until Kyle graduated from Hogwarts. Less than an hour of knowing this potential muggle friend his dad had probably weirded out Kyle. 

 

“Oh Kyle, Sheila! Guess what! Wizards have spells that allows them to breathe underwater so they can swim with dolphins! Can you believe that? Swimming with dolphins!” The other man standing with his dad exclaimed. Judging by the facepalm from Kyle, the mystery man was his father. 

 

“Looks like both our dads are embarrassing, huh?” Stan whispered, trying to ease the humiliation that both of the boys felt. 

 

“Just get me out of here. I can’t listen to my dad talk about dolphins again,” Kyle whispered back and looked over at his mom. “Hey mom! Stan and I are going to go to the pet store we saw earlier.” His mother nodded towards her son and turned her head back to Stan’s mom for a conversation about the Hogwarts education system. Kyle rolled his eyes and pointed towards the door irritatedly. Getting the message, Stan pulled Kyle away from the bookstore and towards the pet store. 

 

“So I saw some kids holding owls back at the bookstore. Are those even allowed in Hogwarts?” Kyle asked innocently. 

 

Stan grinned at how little his new friend knew about the wizarding world. “Of course you can, dude! You can practically bring anything. I’ve heard from my sister Shelly about a kid bringing a ferret as his pet. A fucking ferret!” Stan cried out, waving his arms in the arm for emphasis. “At least with an owl you can send letters. What can a ferret do?” Kyle stopped in his tracks with his mouth wide. 

 

“You… you have a postal system with owls.” His voice could barely be heard in the loud streets of Diagon Alley, but Stan could still hear the disbelief in them. 

 

“Oh Kyle, you have so much to learn. Don’t worry! Your pal Stan here will teach you everything you need!” Stan declared and gave Kyle’s shoulders a soft slap. His green eyes twinkled with delight as he heard Stan’s words. He nodded excitedly and bombarded Stan with questions. His questions ranged from the history of the wizarding world to the best curse to put on annoying shitheads. 

 

The two reached the pet shop on no time, too focused on their conversation to even notice that they’ve arrived. Kyle hesitated for a moment and peered into the window, flinching as he saw cages after cages of different animals. Stan rubbed his shoulders reassuringly. “Dude, it’ll be ok. They’re all harmless creatures. Magical or not, animals won’t harm you.” He said, trying to comfort Kyle. Kyle simply nodded before pushing the door and entering the store. 

 

Stan was taken back by the sheer number of animals there were in the store. There were kittens, owls, snakes, puppies, rats, bats, and various other animals minding their own business throughout the store. His eyes instantly fell on a small white kitten with black ears and spots around the eyes. Stan let out a small gasp and ran up to its cage. The small kitten was curled up in a ball in the corner of the cage labeled  _ Snowshoe Cat, Male, 6 months old.  _ “Hey buddy…” he mumbled to the kitten, hoping that he’ll wake up. 

 

Just as he had hoped, the kitten raised his head in confusion towards the boy. Stan grinned ear to ear and he saw that the kitten had indeed answered his call and was now meowing in the adorable way only kittens can do. He gently lifted up the cage from the shelf and held it against his chest, eager to show Kyle his new pal. 

 

Stan found the redhead in the owl side of the store, appalled by the vast variation of owls. His eyes, however, was fixated on one owl in front of him. The owl had a stocky build, unlike the others which were all large and buff, making them easier to carry large parcels. “He’s an eastern screech owl. They don’t grow to be as large as the other owls, but dude isn’t he just the cutest?” He gushed without looking over at Stan. He nodded approving at Kyle’s choice. 

 

“Owls are always good. Free delivery service for you,” he stopped and tried to hold in a laugh, which came out as an ugly cough, as Kyle poked his finger through the cage. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Owls have the tendency to nip fingers.” Right as he finished his sentence, Kyle yelped and pulled his finger back. 

 

“You asshole! Could’ve told me that earlier!” He yelled, flipping off Stan, who fell on the floor laughing. The owl hooted innocently and Kyle glared at him, pointing a finger. “You’re off the hook this time Terrence. But next time you do that I’m going to make sure you regret it.” He said, lowering his voice. 

 

“Kyle! How dare you use that kind of language in front of these two newborn babies,” Stan scolded. He then proceed to stick a finger into the owl’s cage to cover his ears, only to get nipped by him. Stan sucked in a sharp breath, but did not curse. “It’s animal abuse dude. Also, since when was the owl named Terrence?” Kyle picked up the cage from its shelf and grinned at Stan. 

 

“Since the moment I decided I was going to buy him. Which just so happened to be right before he decided to bite me” Stan snorted and grinned. “Well I would like to inform you that Phillip over here is the sweetest and won’t ever betray me, unlike Terrence.” His kitten meows softly in response and Kyle scoffed, rolling his eyes. He mumbled a quick “whatever” and made a mad dash to the cashier. 

 

Stan followed behind him, admiring Phillip. He couldn’t wait to show him off to his parents, Shelley, and Sparky. Would Sparky like Phillip? He had heard rumors that cats and dogs didn’t like one another, but Sparky was gay. And the kitten was a boy. Stan shuddered and shook the thought of his dog and kitten doing well unspeakable things. Was that even possible? 

 

“Stan? Stan!” Kyle’s shouts brought him out of his thoughts and he looked over at him. Hr raised a single eyebrow at Stan and frowned. “You were zoning out pretty hard dude. What’s on your mind?” He asked, concern dipped in his words. 

 

Stan took a deep breath and stared at Kyle with a serious look. Kyle found himself holding his breath, anxious to what Stan was going to say. 

 

“Dude in all seriousness, do you think a dog can you know, do the business with a cat?” Kyle would’ve burst into a fit of laughter hearing this if it weren’t for Stan’s serious face. He questioned Stan’s word choice, but didn’t ask out loud, remembering what he said about ‘protecting the innocence’ of their newborn pets. He buried his head in his hands, trying to think of an answer for Stan. He didn’t want to let his friend down with a half assed answer. 

 

Luckily, before Kyle was forced to answer, their mothers burst into the store, faces turning red with fury.  

 

“Stanley! We need to go now! Your father is starting to drink and I only have bad feelings about this!” 

 

“Kyle! I think your father’s had enough of magic for one day.” 

 

The boys stared at their enraged mothers and was forced outside with them. Stan’s mom glanced over at his new pet and gave him a forced smile with a pat on the head. Kyle’s mom, on the other hand, was less supportive of his pet choice, but didn’t pry too much. Stan couldn’t understand why the two moms were upset at their dads. It wasn’t like his dad drinking was a surprise to him. As long as his dad didn’t drink fire whiskey, they were fine. 

 

And of course, his dad was drinking fire whiskey with Kyle’s dad, lounging comfortably in the bar. “Randy! It’s a little after noon and you’re drinking already. And it’s fire whiskey! You know better than anyone else how badly you take fire whiskey!” Stan’s mom yelled, turning many heads of ongoing pedestrians. 

 

“Now Sharon, Randy here was just showing me how magic and these drinks worked,” Kyle’s dad stated and gestured to the empty bottle. “Just a bonding time for two hard working men.” 

 

The four adults continued to bicker about day drinking and what alcohol they should be consuming for another 10 minutes before declaring that they should call it a day. Stan’s mom pulled his dad out of his chair and pushed him towards the door, ignoring his complaints. “Come on Stan! We need to leave before your father does something stupid again. You’ll see Kyle again tomorrow.” She called out from the door. Stan walked to the door reluctantly, turning around briefly to wave goodbye to his new friend. 

 

Stan couldn’t help, but to be disappointed with his parents’ behavior. He could’ve spent more time with his new friend, if it weren’t for his dad’s drinking. 

 

“You’ll see him again, Stan. You’ll see him for the rest of the school year and on.” He muttered to himself as the family walked out of Diagon Alley, pulling a very upset Shelly away from her friends.

 

* * *

 

“Stanley! Shelly! You two better behave yourselves in the station. Stan, I need you to make sure to watch after your father in there. I’m going with Shelly to speak with some other parents.” Stan groaned as he heard his mom talk. Of course he got stuck with his idiot dad in the station. His future classmate are all going to see his dad do stupid shit and never talk to Stan ever again. 

 

“Mom-” he started, but quickly shut his mouth when she glared at him. 

 

The family walked into the station, with Stan gazing at everything in awe. Sure he’s been in the station before, but being there with all his Hogwarts supplies gave a new feeling. Phillip meowed from his cage as if to agree. 

 

He could feel the eyes of muggles around him as he pushed his cart with suitcases and Phillip’s cage. They raised eyebrows and whispered to each other, something about fancy boarding schools these days. Stan could care less about what they thought. He just wanted to see his friend again. 

 

Stan and his dad made their way to platform 9 and 10, where other Hogwarts bound kids could be seen. He saw some confused muggle borns, asking around if they knew where platform 9 ¾ was. He hoped they didn’t ask any muggles that. 

 

“Randy! Randy! Is that you?” Stan was just about to run into the wall leading him to platform 9 ¾ when a voice the voice stopped him. He turned to see a tall blond man with a red hat grinned towards his dad.  _ Was he a friend of his dad?  _

 

“Stuart! Oh how great it is to see you again! It’s been too long!” He watched as the two men hugged and pulled on his dad’s shirt irritably. He wanted to find Kyle and find an empty compartment so he could learn more about the muggle world.

 

“Why, I’m guessing this is Stan, huh? He’s grown so old.” his dad’s friend said, smiling warmly at him. Stan forced himself to look up at the man and smile back. The man then turned behind him and pushed someone in front of him. 

 

The person was a child, probably no older than Stan. Their face was covered by the fur on the hood of a bright orange jacket, so that he could only make out their blue eyes. They wore orange pants to go with it, making them look more like a highlighter. 

 

“Kenny, stop hiding behind me and make friends with Stan. No son of my is shy.” The man said in a strict tone and Kenny immediately appeared in front of him. 

 

Kenny shoved a hand to Stan and said something, which he couldn’t make out because of the hood that covered his mouth. Stan reluctantly shook his hand, only to be pulled away from their parents by Kenny. “Wait! Kenny-” Stan cried out, but it was useless. Kenny was dragging him further and further away until they reached the wall leading to platform 9 ¾.

 

“Go through and wait near this wall. I’ll go get your stuff.” Stan jumped out of his skin once he heard the new voice. He looked around him, but no one was paying attention to him.  _ Then it must’ve been-  _ He peered over to where Kenny was, and saw them making his way back to the dads.

 

“Huh. His voice was higher than I expected. Is he really a boy?” 


	2. Don't Trust the Chocolate Frogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle sits on the train alone, wondering if he actually met Stan the day before. Or maybe he did meet Stan, but he didn't want to meet him again. Or maybe Kyle's jus overthinking it and Stan's running late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter yayay

Maybe Kyle fucked up somehow. 

 

There he was, sitting in an empty compartment as he waited for Stan to arrive. He had promised the other boy a seat so they could talk but…  _ What if I’m in the wrong area? Maybe only older wizards could sit here. What if he got on the wrong train? What if-  _ Kyle’s thoughts were rudely interrupted by the compartment door getting pushed open and slammed shut. He flinched, knowing that it must be one of the older wizards, pissed off that a so called muggle like him was sitting in their side of the train. 

 

“You must be the muggleborn Kyle!” a cheerful voice boomed from the doors and he knew he was fucked.  _ They know my name already. Now they’re just going to beat me up. _ Working up the remaining courage he had, Kyle finally looked up. He saw two figures standing before him: one was Stan, wearing the same red pom pom beanie from yesterday. The other, however, was someone he had never seen before. But there was one thing that was obvious. The figure was the same, if not smaller than Stan, meaning he probably wasn’t a pissed upperclassmen. 

 

The mystery person’s face was mostly covered by the fluff on their orange jacket. Only the mouth was completely visible, the hood part that must’ve covered it was pulled down. Kyle stared at the two and quickly realized that unlike himself, Stan was already a wizard, meaning he probably had friends already.  _ He must’ve been with his wizard friends and forgot about me until now.  _

 

“Sorry Kyle! We were looking all over for you at the station, but we couldn’t find you anywhere so we just kinda got on. Sorry we left you all alone.” Stan sounded ashamed with himself and hung his head lowly. “Oh! And how can I forget. This is Kenny. They’re my dad’s friend’s kid. We met back at the station. It’s ok if he tags along right?” Kyle quickly nodded. He felt a smile forming on his face after hearing that Stan did not forget, he simply couldn’t find him. He also brought another wizard, making Kyle have more friends than he ever did.  

 

“Great! Thanks dude!” Kenny exclaimed and pulled down his hoodie completely. His hair was blond and shimmered in the sunlight pouring in through the window. His almost light purple blue eyes glimmered with delight. 

 

The two sat down in front of Kyle’s seat with a soft thump and grinned at him. He grinned back, unable to contain his joy. He hadn’t even arrived in Hogwarts yet and he already had two friends. What will kids back home say once he told them about his newly found friendships?  _ They’ll probably shit their pants. _ This thought made Kyle giggle softly.  __

 

He looked back at his friends, pulling himself out of his thoughts. As much as he was excited about making friends, Kyle began to feel uneasy by the two boys’ unfading smile. They were still grinning like a mad man. “Uh guys? You’re starting to really creep the fuck out of me.” Kyle mumbled out, not wanting to offend the two. The moment those words left his mouth, the smiles on their faces dropped and Stan quickly said his apologies to Kyle while Kenny pulled his hoodie up, covering half of his face.

 

“Sorry dude! It’s just, we just, you know uh-” Stan stammered, his ears turning red from embarrassment. 

 

Kenny cut in and finished Stan’s sentence. “We’re just really eager to learn about the muggle world. Sorry if we’re being weird as fuck. Happens when you’ve only seen magic in your life.” he concluded, shrugging.

 

Kyle stared at Kenny, unable to believe his ears. He sighed and leaned closer to the boys. “I really don’t get why you’re so fascinated by muggles. I mean look at yourselves. You have magic and fucking broomsticks for transportation. You’ve even got a kickass postal system. All we’ve got is air polluting cars and boring old letters delivered to you by a even more boring postal men.” Kyle regretted his word choice, realizing that he might’ve just crushed the two wizards’ view on muggles.  _ Oh great. Now they’re going to think I’m a loser.  _ “Wait, scratch that. Muggles are actually-”

 

“You guys have a postal man? So he delivers the letters for you, not owls? Dude! That’s so cool!w I want to be a postal man!” Stan cried out and Kenny made a noise of agreement, cutting Kyle off. He gawked at the noirette, suddenly seeing the uncanny resemblance between Stan and his father. He decided that he wanted to live a bit longer and kept his mouth shut. 

 

All Kyle could do was laugh weakly as Stan and Kenny gushed on and on about how cool the postal man must be. But when the two started making assumptions about the postal man which were way too off, Kyle lost it. He fell to the ground, hitting his leg on the seat during the process, but Kyle couldn’t care less. Laughter erupted from his stomach as he rolled on the floor, tears streaming out. Never in his years back home had he laughed this hard. 

 

“Kyle? What’s so funny about the all mighty postal man? You know damn well that someone as great as him can’t be a normal muggle. He must be at least 10 ft tall.” Kenny claimed, peering over at the shaking redhead. Stan raised an eyebrow at Kyle and cocked his head to the side, also unable to understand why he was finding the postal man so funny. 

 

Before either of them could get an answer, the compartment door was busted open and a short women walked in, pushing a cart filled with sweets. She looked down to Kyle and pointed towards him as if to ask what he was doing. Kyle, who had calmed down a bit, felt his face burn and shot up from the ground. He muttered a short sorry and eyed the cart filled with what looked like candy. His eyes widened at the sight.

 

On the cart was various different boxes and bags, all filled with sweets that looked both weird and tasty. Some had ridiculous names like chocolate frogs and sugared eyeballs, while others made his mouth water like the cauldron cakes. The sweets he’s seen back at home were nothing compared to these. The snacks he’s been used to were artificially sweetened and colored, packaged in ridiculous containers that were mostly filled with air. But these magical snacks were something completely different. Sure some were in colors he didn’t know could be made into food, but they looked so damn good. Kyle couldn’t choose just one to buy. He wanted, no he needed to try them all.

 

“I’ll take 4 chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans!” Stan announced, taking out a pouch filled with coins. The lady smiled warmly and handed Stan his order, took the money, and promptly left the compartment. “Here Kyle, Kenny. You each get a chocolate frog. I’ll save one for later.” 

 

“You, you bought one for me?” Kenny’s voice came out quiet, almost too quiet to hear. Stan nodded, making him let out a small squeal of happiness. He slowly reached out a hand towards the chocolate and opened the box. Stan snorted, as if he was trying to hold back a laughter. 

 

Without warning, the chocolate frog leapt out of it’s confinement towards Kenny’s face. He screamed when the frog landed on his cheek, scaring it off. It made its way to the window before Stan grabbed it and gave Kenny a look of confusion.

 

“Dude have you never had chocolate frogs before? I’ve never heard a wizard that hadn’t tried one.” he asked, the puzzled look staying on his face. Kenny’s expression dropped and crack a forced smile. 

 

“I’m from a poor household. Never ate chocolate before.” He confessed lightly, as if it was nothing to him. Kyle’s heart felt like it got stabbed once he heard those words. Kyle was no wizard, but he’s had chocolate before. His family wasn’t rich, but he’s always had enough food and deserts. He felt selfish for wanting to eat all the candy the lady had when Kenny couldn’t afford a single chocolate. He looked over at Stan, who had guilt written all over his face. He opened his mouth, probably to apologize, but Kenny stuck a finger in his face stopping him.

 

“If you’re going to apologize, save it. I don’t really care what people say anyway. My family’s poor and that’s just how it is.” he grinned lazily, breaking the tension that was starting to form. Kyle saw Stan’s tense posture relax, though the apologetic look stayed. He handed over the frog he caught to Kenny, who bit off the head as soon as he got it. Kenny moaned, claiming that the frog was “the tastiest shit he’s ever had”. Both Kyle and Stan laughed and ate their own frogs as well. Kyle made sure to slowly open the box, in case the frog was just as excited as Kenny’s was. 

 

Kyle had to admit, the chocolate was indeed the “tastiest shit”. While he didn’t moan, the sweet flavor that spread in his mouth was truly orgasmic. Stan gave the two a cocky smile, knowing that he had won both of them over with chocolate. 

 

“Oh and don’t forget about the card that comes with the frog. I’m collecting them.” At first, the statement sounded strange. All Kyle could think about was the chocolate once he bit into it that he hadn’t checked the rest of the box. He turned the box over and shook it, emptying it of its contents. A hand size hard fell out and he inspected it. On one side of the card was something that looked like a description for a ‘Ron Weasley’. Confused, he turned it, only to find a picture of a wall plastered on. Kyle scoffed and sneered at Stan. “What’s so great about collecting pictures of a wall, Marsh?” he mocked.

 

Stan glared at him, but it quickly turned into a soft smile as he gestured down to the card. Kyle looked down and shrieked in terror as he did so. There on the card was a freckled redhead standing in front of the wall waving at him. “What the fuck just happened!” he hollered as he dropped the card. Cackling, Kenny snatched the card off the ground. 

 

“Oh Kyle. Magical pictures like this one moves, dumbass. Now you know not to make fun of magic.” Kenny teased, poking at Kyle’s sides. Kyle pushed his fingers away and flipped him off, not wanting to hear more of his bullshit. He also flipped off Stan who was desperately trying not to laugh. 

 

The three continued eating their frogs, with Kyle glaring at anyone that brought up the ‘moving pictures incident’. They eventually started playing “who gets the worst flavor of beans” with the every flavor beans Stan also bought. So far Kyle got toenails while Stan got spoiled milk. But neither could top Kenny, who got vomit, dog shit, and moldy door.

 

Kyle was starting to feel bad for Kenny and his bad luck as he picked out an red bean. Sweat started forming on his forehead as he thought of the worst flavor that read bean could be.  _ Blood? Crayons? Firetruck?  _ Before the bean made it into Kenny’s mouth, it fell as he jumped up in surprise by someone screaming from outside their compartment. 

 

All three heads turned towards the compartment door’s window, where they saw a wild blond head twitching and leaning against the door. Kenny slowly made his way to the door and opened it, making the blond fall into the compartment. 

 

“Agh! This is too much pressure! Why did I get lost!” the boy cried out, grabbing onto his hair. Kyle stared at the wild hair, remembering it from somewhere.  _ But where could he have possibly seen him?  _ Kenny loomed over the boy, which made his twitching worse, and grinned. 

 

“If you’re lost you can always stay with us.” He said, trying to put an arm around him. The boy yelped in response and swatted Kenny’s hand away. Kenny frowned and dramatically fell on the floor, letting his tongue slide out of his mouth.

 

“Oh jesus! Did I kill him? Ack! No way man, this can’t be happening.” Stan hurried over to Kenny and kicked his side lightly, making him grunt. 

 

“Stop pretending to be dead, asshole. You’re scaring the new kid.” Hearing this, Kenny pulled his body back up, a sly grin plastered on his face. 

 

The blond boy glared at Kenny and stomped over to him. He was shorter than Kenny by an inch or two, but that didn’t stop him. “Agh! You’re a fucking dick!” he cried out, making Stan and Kyle howl with laughter. Kyle put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at the boy. He glared up at Kyle, but it weakened seeing the warm smile on Kyle’s face. 

 

“Sorry for freaking outlikethat. I do that sometimes,” the boy admitted once he had calmed down. He had taken the empty seat next to Kyle. “Thanks for letting me staywithyouguys. I thought I was a goner, getting loston the train.” Kyle felt a sense of achievement hearing this. He had not only befriended two, but three people before arriving at Hogwarts. 

 

“It’s all good dude. Say you haven’t introduced yourself yet.” Stan said and the boy let out a squeak. His face became light pink and his hands flew to his hair. He shrieked again, making Kenny flinch. 

 

“Ack! How can I forget! I’m, agh, Tweek! Tweek Tweak!” 

 

Suddenly, the gears inside Kyle’s brain started working full speed. “Wait, Tweek as in Tweek Bros. Coffee? In South Park?” he asked. His question made Tweek face him with wide eyes. 

 

“Why do you know whereIlive? Jesus! Did you stalkme? Agh!” Tweel yelled out once more and Kyle raised his hands up in surrender. Stan and Kenny watched the two talk quietly, not understanding what was happening. 

 

“Woah calm down dude! I’m from South Park too. South Park Elementary to be exact.” Tweek’s hands slowly let go of hair hearing the familiar school name. He sighed, finally understanding how Kyle could be from the same town as him when he had never seen Kyle previously. He explained briefly to Kyle how he was home schooled for the longest time so that he could work full time at his family’s coffee shop. Kyle politely listened to every word Tweek said and gave him a nod of understanding once he was finished. 

 

“I don’t get why you had to work full time though. Tweek’s coffee was always shitty and overpriced.” Tweek shrieked for what felt like the 100th time. 

 

“Don’t be an ass, Kyle,” Stan shook his head, exasperated. “Here, Tweek. Have a chocolate frog.”

 

* * *

 

“Ok so you’re telling me that gryffindors the best house in Hogwarts because it just is?”

 

“Kyle, you just don’t get it. It’s the only acceptable house to be in.” Stan exclaimed, waving his arms for emphasis. For the past half an hour, Stan was doing everything in his ability to convince Kyle and Tweek that gryffindor was the best. Tweek, who was also a muggleborn, claimed that Stan trying to push his opinions to him was “too much pressure” while Kyle couldn’t understand Stan’s logic. 

 

Kenny huffed in annoyance and groaned. “If I have to listen to Stan rant about why slytherins are all evil one more time, I’m going to jump off this train.” he grumbled. Stan slapped Kenny’s shoulder, making him whine. Stan raised his hand to make a objection to what Kenny said and Kyle made a noise of distress. He couldn’t handle another speech about Hogwarts housing. But Stan’s gaze turned to the door and he lowered his arm.

 

Outside of their compartment was 4 boys, all dressed in their Hogwarts uniform already. They seemed to be talking to each other until one of them noticed Stan staring. He wore a blue chullo hat and was noticeably taller than the other 3. He had a bored look on his face and casually flipped off Stan, forcing a gasp of disbelief from him. 

 

Kyle raised an eyebrow at the tall boy. He has never seen anyone flip off someone off for no reason. But the other 3 boys acted like this was a normal occurrence and turned towards Stan, who was still frozen from shock. A short brunette gave them a small wave. A boy in crutches grinned at them and mouthed something Kyle couldn’t make out, probably joke judging by the way the other boys laughed. The third dark skinned boy knocked on their compartment door and peeked a head in. Tweek screamed at him, but he seemed unfazed by it as he spoke softly. 

 

“We’re arriving at Hogwarts soon. You might want to start changing into your uniforms.” and with that he closed the door and the 4 boys walked away, with the tall one flipped them off once again. 

 

Stan turned towards Kyle, fuming. “Who does that son of a bitch think he is, going around flipping people off like that? I hope I’m not in the same house as him.” he growled and crossed his arms. Kyle laughed, but couldn’t help to feel anxiety building up within him.

 

He was getting closer to Hogwarts. The school that meant new opportunities for him. He’s already made friends that he didn’t want to disappoint by getting put into the ‘wrong house’, according to Stan. 

 

Kyle swallowed thickly as he grabbed his suitcase for his uniform. However this sorting system worked, he hoped he was getting into gryffindor because that’s the only thing that matters, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the kudos and comments on the last chapter! It's really heartwarming to see all the positive feedback the chapter got :))   
> If you have any suggestions for what you want to see happen in the story, feel free to tell me and I'll try to add it in somewhere!  
> Comments about the story and how you feel about it are always appreciated!
> 
> thanks!!   
> -egg


	3. Coffee, Friendship, and Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tweek doesn't feel like he belongs at Hogwarts. He doesn't think he belongs in a school in the first place. All he wants to do is go home and play with his legos.

All Tweek wanted was to live simple life. 

 

His anxiety made his life already three times more difficult than it should’ve been, crushing that dream immediately. The twitches and sudden cries were his constant companion, disrupting any moments tranquility he had. Both his therapist and medications promised for those to get better, but Tweek wasn’t seeing it. 3 years of meds and nothing had changed. 

 

His parents pulled him out of school during 1st grade so that they could homeschool him. He thought that they had done it so he could be less anxious, but he quickly realized that it was so Tweek could work full time at the coffee shop. He wanted to believe the former idea. 

 

But being in the coffee shop wasn’t all that bad. For one, Tweek didn’t have to deal with people he didn’t know as frequently. The only times he had to talk was to take orders and to call out names. By the time he had to do that, he usually got into his ‘customer service’ headspace, allowing him to talk with ease. He got to live his life free of any school drama. 

 

He even found his ‘calm space’ at the coffee shop. Years after years of baking and making coffee trained him into doing the tasks without thought. Heck, he could be asleep and he would still be able to complete both tasks with minimal error. And that’s what he could do when his thoughts got too overwhelming. Both tasks could be done thoughtlessly, and that helped him relax. Less thinking meant less anxiety for Tweek. 

 

“You’re a completely different person once you stand behind the counter, honey.” his mom had once told him. And indeed, that was true. 

 

But now, all of that was snatched from him.

 

There he was, standing in a middle of a small room, filled with various other first year wizards, waiting for this ‘sorting ceremony’. 

 

Tweek held back a scream and fiddled with his sleeves. Why did he even get chosen to come to Hogwarts in the first place? He wasn’t like Stan or Kenny, who came from magical families and already knew the basics of magic. Nor was he like Kyle, who may not know anything about magic, but knew everything about their world, the muggle world. Tweek was just an outlier, the one person that couldn’t fit into either categories. Sure he got homeschooled, but his parents only taught him the important things in life, how to run a coffee shop. Everything else was basically a new territory. 

 

“Everyone, please!” a voice suddenly called from the front of the room, causing Tweek to flinch and grab onto his hair. Several others glanced over at him and gave the all too familiar look that said  _ who is this spaz?  _ “I am Professor McGonagall and I am here to escort you first years to the sorting ceremony. You will be called up by alphabetical order by last name. Once called, the sorting hat will be placed on your head to determine your house.” The moment she finished her sentence, the wooden door behind her creaked open, revealing a dinner hall with four large long tables placed side by side. All of the students gasped, at awe from the sight. Tweek couldn’t feel excitement or amazement. All he wanted to do was go home and play with his legos.  _ Ngh! There’s too many people in that room.  _

 

Above each table was a large banner, which he assumed to be the banner for each of the  houses. Cheers and hoots came from the older students, everyone looking snug in their respective table. Looking up, he could see hundreds of floating candles illuminating the room, giving off a warm glow.  _ Oh jesus they’re going to fall on top of me!  _ In the very front of the hall was another large table with people sitting only on one side so that they faced the students. 

 

“You think those are our teachers?” Tweek yelped, hearing the muffled voice right next to his ear. He quickly turned to see Kenny, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, standing too close for his liking. He frowned and gave him a slight push, but the hooded boy just laughed it off. Kenny had his hood pulled up again, with his hogwarts uniform on top of his orange hoodie. Tweek wondered how he wasn’t burning up. 

 

Not wanting to be a dick to his new friend, Tweek nodded and glanced towards the table once more. Various teachers filled up the seats, every single one of them looking excited for the new school year. He swallowed hard, knowing that these were the very teachers that were going to give him an ass load of homework and make him suffer.  _ Oh god. They’re going tokillme!  _ Panic was the only thought in Tweek’s head. Those people were adult wizards. Who knew what they were capable of doing. Pissing them off meant… 

 

“Death…” he gasped out, left eye twitching uncontrollably. Several students around him gave him a nasty glare, making Tweek’s anxiety worse.  _ Now they’re going to killmetoo. Ack, I’m surrounded by wizard that can kill! I’m going to-  _

 

“W-wow. Already bring t-th-the self deprecating jokes, huh? Trying to join the g-goths?” a new voice interrupted his racing thoughts and laughed. He turned towards the voice and saw the boy he saw back on the train, the one in crutches. He had short brunette hair and a wide, braces covered grin with eyes that never quite seem to look the same way. “Silent t-tre-treatment too? Wow, you really know how to make someone a-a-antsy.”

 

Tweek shook his head vigorously, worried that he had somehow, in the span of seconds, offended this boy. He forced a smile back to him and carefully introduced himself. The boy, after several tries, introduced himself as Jimmy. He came from a family of wizards and loved comedy. Sweat started to form on Tweek’s forehead.  _ Another kid from a magical family. Jesus, he’s going to think I’m a loser. _

 

Jimmy inched forward, his crutches making small noises as it came in contact with the stone floor. “Don’t worry, I k-know as much magic as you do. My parent never liked to flaunt their m-ma-mah…” his face scrunched up in frustration. “Magic. That’s why I like comedy. Anyone c-ca-can do comedy.” Tweek felt himself smiling at Jimmy, relieved after hearing that. He smiled back and pushed his chin towards the front of the dining hall, where Professor McGonagall stood holding a large scroll.

 

“Find your calm space…” he whispered and took in a deep breath. This was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

 

  
  


And indeed it was a long night. Tweek groaned for what felt like the millionth time. His name was never getting called.  _ Why did my last name have to be towards the end of the fucking alphabet,  _ he thought to himself and pulled on his sleeves.

 

It was really no surprise when Stan got sorted into gryffindor. The hat had yelled it out not long after it had been placed on his head. He looked thrilled to be in his dream house, which happened to be the house Kyle was sorted into as well.

 

Kyle took longer to be sorted. The hat sat on top of his head and Tweek swore he saw the seams of the hat move, as if it were talking. He thought he was seeing things again, but then he saw Kyle's mouth moving as well, as though they were in a deep conversation. After two minutes, it finally called out gryffindor. 

 

Kenny, on the other hand, surprised Tweek. He got placed in slytherin. He didn’t fit into any of the characteristics Stan mentioned on the train ride. Tweek never saw him as evil or backstabbing. Just mischievous and playful. Kenny himself looked distraught, his mouth hanging wide open as he got off the stool and walked towards the slytherins, head dropping. The slytherins didn’t seem to care. They all congratulated Kenny and patted his back affectionately. 

 

The boy who told them to change into their hogwarts uniform back in the train got sorted into ravenclaw, or the smart house as Stan called it. The tall one that kept flipping Stan off was placed in slytherin, just like how Stan had speculated after their encounter. But the short brunette, the one that seemed so giddy and uplifting, was also sorted into slytherin as soon as the hat touched his head. Much like Kenny, he didn’t fit into the characteristic either. 

 

Tweek couldn’t take it. Already one of his friends was in the so called ‘bad house’ while the other two was in the ‘best house’.  _ What if I’m a slytherin too? Is Stan going to hate me? Is the tall boy going to continually flip me off?  _ He groaned again.

 

“Tweek Tweak!” Professor McGonagall called out. Subtle laughter erupted from the students, making Tweek clench his fists. He stomped towards the stool and sat down, glaring at the crowd. He knew his Hogwarts life was probably now ruined because he just got exposed to the whole school that his first and last name was the same. Just spelled differently by one letter. But his anger quickly transformed into fear as he felt hundreds of eyes focused on him. He whimpered and the sorting hat was placed on his head.

 

The hat was too big for Tweek, covering his eyes completely. “Well, a muggleborn, eh?” He gasped. There was no way he could be hearing whispers from the crowd them who was- “The hat’s talking to you and no you’re not going insane.” 

 

Tweek suddenly felt vulnerable. This hat was able to read his mind.  _ Oh god and it’s going to-  _ “No I’m not going to kill you. How do you expect me to do that? I’m just a hat. Now, let’s talk about the important stuff here. Which house do you want to be sorted in?” the question made Tweek’s thoughts pause. What house did he want to be in? Stan had said that gryffindor was the best, but was it really?

 

“Agh, I don’tknow! I don’t really know anyofthehouses! This is too much pressure!” he managed out before pulling on his hair. The hat fell silent for a few moments, making Tweek’s hands twitch. Did he break the hat?

 

“You want to know something?” the hat finally whispered out. Tweek violently shook his head. He didn’t want to know, he just wanted this whole thing to be over. “You’ll do well in all houses if you ask me. You’ve got bravery, you can stand up for yourself as well as others. You’re smart, maybe not in the ways you want to be but you are smart. You’ve got your cunning side too. You’re selfless and humble, caring for the ones you love. There is one house that’ll give you a happy outcome kid. But you’ll go through hardship after hardship to reach it.”

 

“Just put me there!” Tweek half-yelled, causing his hand to spasm. He gripped his hands together tightly in an attempt to stop it. The hat had fallen slight once more and he knew it was over. 

 

“Hufflepuff!” the hat blurted out. This time he didn’t hear the voice inside his head. Instead he heard it getting projected out to the hall off students, earning cheers from the hufflepuff table. The hat was lifted off of him and Professor McGonagall gestured for him to go join his house. Tweek’s eyes drifted to the gryffindor table where Stan and Kyle sat. Kyle gave him a thumbs up while Stan forced a smile. 

 

He turned back to the hufflepuff table where the older wizards were welcoming him with open arms. Each one of them wore their uniform with a yellow patch with a small badger on it. Some wore black and yellow scarves, which Tweek speculated was their house colors. 

 

“Welcome to hufflepuff, I’m the perfect for this house and I’m so glad that you’re-” the short girl that appeared in front of Tweek began robotically. It was obvious that she had practiced her speech millions of times before hand, judging by the bored look on her face as she talked. 

 

“Psst! Over here!” a small voice whispered towards him. He tore his eyes from the robotic girl to the owner of the voice. A blond boy with a bright smile was waving to him. He glanced back to the girl, but she had already started talking to another kid, reciting her speech once again. He briskly walked over to the boy and watched as he created space for Tweek to sit. 

The boy’s eyes twinkled in the candle light, making his blue eyes clearer. “I’m Butters! Butters Stotch. Oh boy, I can’t wait to start Hogwarts!” He chirped happily. Tweek couldn’t understand why he managed to be in high spirits after the anxiety filled ceremony. He opened his mouth to reply, only to close it as a booming voice filled the room.

 

“Let’s all give a welcoming applause to our new students. It’s been a long journey here and to many of you, an unexpected one. But remember, we are all a family of wizards here. Every single one of you has the very right to sit where you are now.” Tweek squinted towards the speaker, who was an old man with a long white beard. He could see, even from the very end of the table, that he had warm eyes. Tweek felt as though he could trust this man with anything. 

 

“That’s Headmaster Dumbledore, if you were wondering.” Tweek yelped at the low murmur, but could not find the speaker. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts about the unknown voice and turned his attention back to Dumbledore, who had began talking about the great experience they were going to have at Hogwarts.

 

* * *

 

  
  


In Tweek’s opinion, the sorting ceremony sucked ass. All he did after he got sorted was sit and listen to each teacher drone on and on about the upcoming school year. And the more they talked, the more confused he got. He knew for sure that history and astronomy were subject that muggle schools taught too, so no surprise there. But defense against dark arts? Why did they have to learn defense? Were they going into war? Was someone going to curse him?

 

“Tweek, you good? You don’t look so well.” Butters asked from his side of the dorm room. Tweek lifted his head from his heads and remembered that he wasn’t alone.

 

After dinner, the perfects of each house had led them to their common room and dorms. Tweek was glad that their house didn’t have a password, unlike the other houses. All they had to do was tickle a pear on the painted and boom, the door swung open. 

 

The hufflepuff common room looked almost like the inside of a cabin, with wooden walls and a large fireplace. Some parts of the walls were covered in vine while the others had potted plants dangling on it. There was a large table in the middle, right in front of the fireplace with two couches surrounding it. Smaller tables were placed haphazardly, each with house plants of various sizes on top of them. Moonlight was pouring in through the round windows near the ceiling of the room. Tweek had to admit, this slightly cluttered room felt like home to him.

 

“Tweek?” Butters called out again and he smiled weakly. He gave him a slight nod, which seemed to have satisfied Butters, leaving Tweek be. He groaned and focused his attention to the rest of his roommates.

 

Each dorm had to have four people, meaning that Tweek had to share private space with not just Butters, but with two other complete strangers. One of the two was another blond boy with a british accent named Pip. Much like Butters, he was filled with joy that Tweek couldn’t understand. The last boy was a small brunette with slight curls, freckles plastered on his cheeks. He didn’t say much after introducing himself as Scott Malkinson and sat down on his bed, organizing the stuff he had brought. Tweek found himself sympathizing with him. 

 

While Tweek and Scott kept to themselves, Butters and Pip chatted about their lives before Hogwarts. In every polite way possible, Tweek wanted them to shut up. After a long day of traveling and a horrific ceremony, all he wanted was quiet time. Yet half of his roommates thought overwise.

 

He half yelled into his pillow, hoping that’ll release his frustrations. It didn’t. Tweek glared over at the two blonds, who were too occupied with themselves to notice. He fell back into his bed, knowing that attempting to make them shut up would probably force him to engage in the conversation as well. And that was the last thing he wanted. 

 

So all Tweek could do was resort to his last option. Sleep. Which almost sounded like a joke to him since he could never sleep due to his caffeine intake. But one could hope.

 

* * *

 

  
  


It was hopeless.

 

Even after a good hour and a half after Butters and Pip fell asleep, Tweek couldn’t sleep. He layed wide awake on his bed, his ears filled with the soft snores of his roommates. He envied them for being able to sleep so easily while his shaking body, yearning for sleep, could not. 

 

His eyes drifted to the clock next to him which read  _ 3:30 AM. No use in sleeping anymore. _ He let out a grunt and slid off his bed, careful not to wake the others. Tweek felt his head twitch and realized that he hasn’t had coffee since dinner. Panic ran through his veins as he went through his belongings, looking for a spare thermos. 

 

“Oh jesus…” he gasped, only finding two bags of ground coffee beans his parents had given him. This was it. This was how Tweek was going to die. He had remembered to bring coffee beans, but not the coffee maker itself, meaning that he couldn’t make more coffee. His hands latched onto his hair and pulled.  _ There has to be something downstairs in the common room.  _ He tried to reassure himself with that thought as he creeped downstairs.

 

The common room was now dimly lit by the small fire in the fireplace, changing the warm atmosphere from before into something more eerie. Tweek felt a chill go down his spine even though the room was comfortably warm.  

 

He scoured the entire common room, high and low, keeping an eye out for anything, anything that could potentially boil water. Alas, it was useless. The only thing he found was a pair of glasses and a small notebook filled with words he couldn’t comprehend. He placed the glasses on the table but pocketed the notebook. Apart from the new notes, it was empty, meaning that Tweek could use it in the future. 

 

“I’m so stupid.” he muttered out loud, knowing that no one would be able to hear. “Why would, ack, wizards need fucking coffee pots. They could probably make one appear out of thin air.” Tweek twisted the fabric of his sleeve, frustrated at himself and at the school. “Agh, why did I get chosen to come here. I’m the last person to be able to use magic.”

 

“I’m sure that's not true.” someone called out to him from the staircases. Tweek shot up from his seat, heart pounding, and cowered to the edge of the couch he was sitting on. The figure, who had previously been masked in the darkness, turned out to be Scott from his dorm, wearily eyes staring through him. His hair was tousled from sleep and he grinned lazily. He sat down on the couch without warning and gave Tweek a look of confusion. “Why do you think you’re not qualified to be here?” he asked, tongue sticking out. 

 

“Ack! This is too much pressure! You can’tputme on the spot likethat!” Tweek barked out, taking Scott by surprise. His facial expression became hard to read as he turned his body towards Tweek. He gestured for him to sit down and Tweek sat as far away as possible.  _ Oh god, he’s beckening me closer so he can kill me!  _

 

“Well I’ll start first then,”  _ First? What does he mean first?  _ “I honestly still don’t think I belong here. I never felt like I fitted in back at home and being placed in a place like this out of nowhere, I- I just don’t feel like myself. 

 

“Everyone back home always just knew me as ‘that kid with diabetes’ or ‘that kid with a lisp’ and they made fun of me for it. They tormented and kicked me for being even the slightest different than them. But people still knew me there, even if it wasn’t something I could be proud of. I was still part of their small community. I never wanted diabetes or a lisp. But it was because I had these that I ever interacted with anyone at school. 

 

“Coming here just made me feel worse. Now I’m not just ‘that kid with diabetes’ or ‘that kid with a lisp’. I’m also ‘that kid who can’t use magic’. I’ve already heard rumors about the dispute between muggleborns and purebloods. How they don’t like our kind to be here. And that thought terrifies me. I now have another factor I can get beat up for. 

 

“But then I noticed something. A lot of the other first years looked like they’ve seen magic for the first time. So I asked around. And guess what? You’re not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts until the legal age, 17. That means that even if you know about magic or spells, it doesn’t mean you can execute them. And that’s what I have hope for and why I think I’m qualified to be here.

 

“Back at my old school, I didn’t have an equal playing ground as others. I was shorter, weaker, and had obvious reasons to be picked on. But here, it can be different. Everyone has varying knowledge of magic. This is most likely everyone’s first encounter with actual magic usage. Just like you and me. That gives us an equal playing ground. It doesn’t matter if we’re muggleborns or purebloods or halfbloods. None of us used magic before anyway. We’re all currently on a blank slate so why does it matter if we’re from a wizarding family or not? And that makes me just as worthy to be here as the other wizards.” Scott finished, taking a little bow at the end. 

 

Tweek was astonished at Scott’s speech. He had spoken so confidently about a topic that seemed too controversial to talk about. He even asked others if they could use magic, physically exposing the fact that he could not. Tweek felt himself starting to respect the brunette. 

 

“Well Tweek? Do you still think you’re not qualified?” Scott inquired and Tweek’s face reddened, his reasoning suddenly sounding childish compared to Scott’s speech.

 

“AGh! I never went to school before Hogwarts. I was always, ngh, homeschooled. So the pressure of doing somethingwrongat school was onething. And the school being a fucking magic school? I thought it was aprankletter.” words spilled out of his mouth like a waterfall. Tween had to force himself to stop and take a deep breath. “And just knowing that, ack, I wouldn’t know magic scared me. I didn’t want to be an outsider again.”

 

Tweek peered up to Scott, half expecting him to start making fun of his reasonings. But Scott just smiled at him and stuck out a hand. “Well Tweek, looks like us outsiders need to stick together, don’t we?” Tweek felt a smile forming on his face hearing that. 

 

He slowly pushed out his own hand and grasped Scott’s tightly. He grinned towards him, a real grin, and Scott grinned back. 

 

For the first time, Tweek felt like he had someone that he could relate with. Someone he could trust. And that was all he wanted for a long time. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the supportive comments and kudos on the previous chapters!! they really encourage me to keep writing this story
> 
> i'll try to update once a week, once in three weeks at the latest
> 
> i hope yall are liking this story so far :) 
> 
> i have a lot planned for this story so i hope i can continue writing it
> 
> comments about what you'd like to see in the future are always welcome!
> 
> -egg


	4. Dude, That's Pretty Gay

Stan was more than content with his house placement. He had gotten into gryffindor, his dream house along with Kyle. Sure he was disappointed that Kenny and Tweek weren’t there to be a part of the best house, but he knew the sorting hat knew what was best. He still couldn’t shake off the thought that it just felt wrong. In fact, Stan couldn’t understand why Kenny got sorted into slytherin in the first place. He was nothing like the other slytherins, who were lying, cheating bastards who would do anything for power. A part of him felt bad for Kenny, knowing that he had to spend time with other slytherins. Another part of him felt bad for insulting the house so much, even though it was before Kenny got sorted into the house. 

 

Stan was also pleased with his roomates. They were, in short, an interesting bunch. First there was Kyle, his new muggleborn friend who knew absolutely nothing about magic. He was also oddly protective of his hat, refusing to take it off at any cost. Then there was Davíd, who’s a half-blood and only knew the bare minimum about magic. His parents owned a mexican restaurant in the muggle world and preferred to not use magic there. Finally, there was Jimmy, the brunette he had seen back in the train. Jimmy came from a magical family that never flaunted their magic, making him as clueless as Kyle. Stan felt a sense of pride growing inside of him once he found out that he was the most experienced in magic. 

 

The four of them spent most of the night talking, discussing their old life and what they hoped to happen in Hogwarts. Despite just meeting one another, they got along rather well, making Stan confident in their friendship for the next 7 years. They were all crowded around Jimmy’s bed, where he had taken off his crutches and sat comfortably on the mattress. 

 

“All I’m saying is,” Davíd started, “potions can’t be that bad. It’s just mixing shit right? Not that different from cooking. And I did that all the time back at home.” Stan let of a exasperated groan and cupped his head. 

 

“Davíd, how many times do I have to say this? It’s taught by the slytherin headmaster, dude! It’s going to suck ass!” he insisted, making Jimmy howl with laughter. He turned to him and playfully punched his shoulder, pouting. “Jimmy! It’s not funny! I’m serious!” Stan frowned and felt a small bubble of guilt building inside of him.  _ Kenny’s in that house now and yet here I am, still insulting his house.  _

 

“S-su-sure you are, Stan. I bet you ha-haven’t opened the textbook yet.” Jimmy retorted. Stan opened his mouth to objectify, but closed it, face tinted pink, when he couldn’t think of a good comeback. Kyle smirked at him, which he responded with a middle finger. 

 

At around 12, Davíd dozed off and Kyle followed soon after. Stan and Jimmy sat together on Jimmy’s bed looking out the window next to Stan’s bed. For the first time, Stan felt peaceful before going to sleep. Back at home, whenever he tried to sleep he would be kept awake by his parents’ screaming at each other downstairs. But here? His roommates were fucking awesome and maybe for once, Stan could fall asleep to blissful silence. 

 

“What are you th-th-thinking about?” Jimmy’s soft voice filled the room. Stan turned towards him and smiled. The brunette smiled back, his braces shining in the moonlight.

 

“I’m just excited for everything that’s about to happen.”   
  


* * *

 

 

What Stan didn’t realize was that going to school meant waking up before noon.

 

“Stanley if you don’t get your ass out of bed right now I swear to god I’m going to kick Philip out of this dorm room.” Stan’s eyes snapped opened and he threw himself up hearing those words. His gaze immediately dropped to his kitten, who sat in his cage sleeping, unphased by the chaos in the room. “Wow. That gets you awake but not ‘the room is on fire’! Priorities man.” 

 

“Kyle I don’t need your negativity from this early in the morning.” Stan managed to groan out and Kyle merely shrugged. He was already in uniform, complete with a vest and a tie, his robes over them. His hair was once again covered by his hat. Stan looked around the room and found both Jimmy and Davíd to be missing. 

 

“They left to save us seats in the dining hall while your dumbass was asleep.” Stan chucked his pillow at Kyle and snorted as it hit him square in the face. Kyle gave him an irritated glare, which finally made him get out of bed. 

 

Stan pulled out some loose shirts he found in his suitcase and grabbed a tie from the closet next to him.  _ Fuck the vest. It’s not necessary in the uniform anyway.  _ He hastily pulled on his robes and grabbed his hat, grinning at Kyle. He had his arms crossed, unamused. Stan walked next to the dorm door and opened it, gesturing to Kyle to follow. Kyle huffed loudly and walked out, leading the two to the dining hall. 

 

Their walk to the dining hall was silent and Stan appreciated that. He really didn’t want to interact with others at such an ungodly hour. He glanced towards Kyle, who looked like he woke up perfect, and realized how underdressed he must’ve looked, but he couldn’t care less. Stan had his goals set for Hogwarts and none of them included looking like America’s top model every morning. 

 

By the time they got to the dining hall, each table was packed with students, everyone looking like they spent an hour getting ready for the first day. Stan felt a small bit self-conscious seeing the other first years in their neatly tied ties and pressed shirts next to his rough attire. 

 

“Come on dude! Can’t keep Jimmy and Davíd waiting for us.” Kyle pushed him towards the gryffindor table where their friends sat, waving at them. Stan was about to sit down when he noticed the mess of blond hair that was standing next to Jimmy. 

 

Tweek’s face lit up when he saw Stan and Kyle and he waved over to someone else. Kenny. Stan felt guilt piling inside him as the slytherin walked over with a lazy grin. 

 

“Mornin’. Can me and Tweek sit here? My fucking house is driving me crazy. The less time I spend there, the happier I’ll be.” Kenny rolled his eyes and complained. As if on cue, Davíd scooted over and made more space so that the two could sit, earning noises of discomfort from the girls sitting next to him. Davíd ignored them and gestured for Tweek and Kenny to sit next to him. Kenny happily complied with Tweek trailing behind him. Stan kept his eyes glued to the ground as he sat down across from Kenny, desperate to get out of the awkward situation.

 

“I fucking swear man. I don’t think I can survive another night of Donovan crying about there being no tacos here. I’m serious! That’s all he did last! And Tucker wouldn’t help calm him down either. That asshole just sat there, reading some stupid book. But fucking Thorn? He’s the worst. He kept staring at me with those red eyes. If I end up dead, I bet you it was him that killed me.” Kenny ranted, bits of food flying out his mouth as he did so. Tweek let out a cry of distress when he heard “killed me” and Kyle made a face of disgust at the food pieces. 

 

Jimmy chuckled from the side, hearing Kenny’s complaints about his friends. “They’re not that b-bah-bad once you know them.” Kenny groaned and shoved another mouthful of hashbrowns in his mouth. 

 

_ Shit do I say something? Do I tell him that I’m sorry? That even if he’s a slytherin, he’s still cool in my book?  _ Stan could barely lift his fork with those thoughts eating away at him. He knew he had to do something but-

 

“Holy shit! It’s a howler!”

 

“Who’s it for! Who’s it for!”

 

Stan’s head perked up at those words and saw the red card carried in by one of the owls. Low mumblings filled the hall as each student anxiously awaited to see who the letter was directed to. Confused muggleborns were asking around why a red letter was so frightening. If only they knew. 

 

He swallowed hard as the owl flew towards the gryffindor table, his heart beating out of his chest.  _ Oh no. What if mom found out about all those times I stole firewhiskey from dad.  _ Stan shook his head.  _ No there was no way she found out. She couldn’t have. But what if she did? I’m fucked. _

 

“Hey, I think it’s flying towards you.” the feminine voice broke Stan’s thoughts. He turned towards the voice where he saw a pale faced gryffindor with bright red hair. Her eyes were turning misty as she watched the owl drop the letter in front of her. With shaky hands, she reached down and opened the envelope. Stan gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the worst.

 

“Rebecca! I cannot believe the shame you’ve brought down to our family! Sorted into gryffindor of all houses?! How many times have we told you about that cursed house?! I thought we trained you to become a nice slytherin like everyone else in the family, but no! You just ran off to be a gryffindor! Why couldn’t you be like your cousin and get sorted into slytherin. Don’t even think about coming home during christmas, young lady.” 

 

Silence filled the hall as the letter let out it’s last words. The girl, Rebecca, got up abruptly from her seat and dashed out of the hall, her friends calling after her. But it was no use. Rebecca was gone before they could finish her name. 

 

The hall was once again busting with chatter once she left, but not with excited conversations. More pity and disbelief for what just happened. Stan turned towards his friends, who also had shocked looks on their faces. 

 

“Dude… Can they do that? Say all that horrible shit to their kid?” Kyle finally said, breaking the silence. Stan didn’t know how to reply. As cruel as it had been, there was nothing stopping the parents from wanting their kid to be placed in a specific house. He’s heard of stories about enraged parents not picking their kid up after the school year at Hogwarts had ended, leaving the poor child without a home for the summer. Instead, his ears picked a passing conversation.

 

“Craig, I just don’t think right now’s a good time for you to go-”

 

“Clyde, you’re a fucking dumbass, but thought you were smarter than this. If I’m the reason she’s getting all this shit from uncle douchebag then I better go tell her my plan for a big ‘fuck you letter’ addressed to him.”

 

“I agree with Clyde here Craig. I get you’re mad, but you shouldn’t mess with your uncle. He already hates you both knowing that-” 

 

“I fucking swear Token. If you finished that sentence Red and I will end you.” 

 

Jimmy sighed loudly and focused towards Kyle. “Technically they c-co-could. S-some parents have really ha-high expectations.” Kyle’s face dropped and silence spread in their group once more.

 

Breakfast continued on like that, not a single person daring to break the silence again. Only after Professor McGonagall gave them their schedule did the group regain it’s excitement. Stan grimaced seeing his schedule. 

 

“Dude, I have charms and history of magic back to back first thing in the morning. I bet you I’m going to fall asleep.” Stan grumbled and turned to Kyle, who gave him a bright smile.

 

“Kick ass, dude! We’re in the same class!” he beamed and took Stan’s schedule from his hands, inspecting it. Stan felt a smile forming on his face. Excitement pumped through his veins.  _ Maybe charms and history won’t be too bad with Kyle in my class.  _

 

The boys spent the rest of breakfast comparing classes, exchanging delighted gasps as they did so. Stan found out that Kyle not only shared two classes with him, but all his classes, making him bound with joy. The two also shared astronomy, herbology, potions, and flying classes with Tweek, Kenny, and Jimmy. Davíd was in their transfiguration and defence against dark arts class. 

 

“Ngh, can we leave to ourclassesnow? I don’twanto be late.” Tweek said, putting emphasis on the word ‘late’. The group grumbled in agreement and made their way out of the hall. Jimmy stayed behind to compare schedules with his other friends and Davíd insisted that he wanted to finish his breakfast. Tweek and Kyle briskly walked away from the hall, stating that finding classes in the ‘huge ass castle was a pain in the ass’. That left Stan with Kenny.

 

An awkward silence fell between the two. Stan fiddled with his fingers as he tried to think of an apology to Kenny.  _ Fuck it. I better do something now or he’s going to hate me forever. _ He stopped in his tracks and grabbed Kenny’s arm. Kenny yelped quietly at the sudden contact and turned around, almost purple eyes boring in Stan’s blue ones. 

 

“Hey, I’m sorry for everything I said back in the train. I don’t think you’re evil or a traitor or anything like that. I think you’re pretty damn amazing and-”

 

“Stan, as much as I appreciate your heart to heart to me, that’s pretty gay dude.” Kenny laughed and slung an arm around Stan’s shoulders. “Besides, I know you were just generalizing the house. You know what they call gryffindors back in my house? Egotistical douchebags. Doesn’t mean you’re one though.” Stan felt the weight he had been carrying on his shoulders since last night getting lifted off. He moved closer to Kenny and hugged him tightly, earning another surprised yelp from him. “Ok man now this is getting really gay.” he said, but still hugged Stan back. 

 

“Ack! Stan! Kenny! What areyoudoing! We’re going to be fucking late, man!”

 

Stan pulled away from Kenny, grinning, and saw that he was doing the same.

 

 

 

* * *

 

Tweek and Kenny left to go find their transfiguration class after they found the charms class, leaving Stan and Kyle with some of the other students that arrived early. Stan immediately recognized the tall, blue boy leaning onto a pillar as he read a book. Tucker. He felt a frown getting etched into his face seeing him turn the pages.

 

“Guess what Kyle. Fucking Tucker’s in our class.” He spat out, making Kyle laugh. 

 

“You really hate that guy don’t you? For what, flipping you off once on the train?” 

 

“Ok, he flipped me off for no reason. That’s an asshole move right there.” Stan felt his ears starting to burn in embarrassment as he tried to justify his hatred towards the slytherin. 

 

“Oh hey Craig,” a voice called from the end of the hall. Stan looked up to see a fat boy walk towards Tucker, also in slytherin. “Saw what happened to Rebecca this morning. Aren’t you ashamed too, knowing that your very own cousin is a traitor to the family?” Stan felt irritation starting to build inside him. Even if he hated Tucker, he saw the way he reacted after seeing Rebecca run out the hall. And picking at someone for something they didn’t deserve, that fat kid was a douchebag.

 

“Not saying anything? That’s ok too. Everyone’s just going to know how much your family hates Rebecca now. What do you think they’re going to do to her? Sell her off? Put a curse on her? I know that your family uses dark magic, Craig. And I know for sure that you can too.” Conversations in the hall started to die off, everyone wanting to listen in on the one sided argument. 

 

Tucker’s face remain stoic as he continued to read the book in his hand, completely ignoring the fat boy’s presence. This seemed to irritate the boy and he grabbed the book from Tucker’s hands and threw it on the ground.

 

“Hey! I know you can hear me Tucker! Stop reading the fucking book and listen. Say we team up Craig. You have the magic and I have the brains. We can take the school down and then we-” the boy’s voice fell short as Tucker grabbed a fistful of his shirt and lifted it up. He glared at the boy and his eyes grew in fear. Clicking his tongue, Tucker let go, making the boy fall on the ground.

 

“For the last time Cartman. I’m never teaming up with you because I fucking hate you. And I don’t use dark magic. But I swear the next time you ask either of those questions, I’ll turn you into a pig.” the temperature of the hallway seemed to drop after those words left his mouth. He leaned down, grabbed his book, and turned to Cartman one last time. “And her name’s Red, not Rebecca, fatass.”

 

“Defending your cousin now huh? Do you have a thing for her, Craig? Are you in love with your own cousin, Craig, you sick fuck?” Cartman snickered from where he sat on the ground. Stan balled his fists and saw Kyle doing the same. The tension of thick in the air as Tucker turned around and pulled out his wand. 

 

“Levicorpus.” he muttered out, in the same monotonous voice. The smile on Cartman’s face disappeared and his whole body began to levitate. 

 

“Hey! Craig! What did you do! Stop! You fag! Hey!” his body was now suspended 3 feet off the ground, like he got tied by the ankle. Tucker shrugged and walked away, his nose in the book once more. After a few seconds, Cartman fell to the ground for the second time, crying out that Tucker had disrespected his ‘authority’. 

 

“You know what Kyle. Scratch that. I don’t hate Tucker. I really don’t want to make him my enemy.” Stan mumbled out once Tucker was out of earshot. Kyle glanced over at Cartman, who was now howling in pain from where he landed when he fell. 

 

“Yeah, me too. He seems like an asshole. Don’t get how Jimmy’s friends with him.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh this ended up becoming kind of a filler chapter sorry! Hopefully I can write another chapter or two that's not a filler this week since my school's off right now. 
> 
> Feel free to leave comments on the story and what you want to see in the future!
> 
> And thank you guys for the comments on the previous chapter! They really motivate me to write more of this story :)
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here!
> 
> -egg


	5. You Wouldn't Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle has some troubles letting go of his past.

“Dude, you remember how you said you were going to fall asleep with back to back charms and history?” Kyle muttered out, holding back a yawn. Stan raised a questioning eyebrow at him. The two were walking out from their transfiguration class to flying class. Davíd left them short after class ended to find the potions class. “I think you’re right. All these classes are fucking boring. We haven’t done shit and it’s almost lunch. I thought wizard history was going to be so much more interesting than muggle history. They’re both boring.”

 

“Probably because it’s the first day, dude. Can’t expect much out of any of the classes today. It’s all going over the course and what they want to see from you, that shit. And I’m sure muggle history has some interesting parts. Besides we did learn something in transfiguration. That we should never, ever piss off McGonagall because she will turn us into a fucking teacup.” Stan replied and picked at his tie. “Hey, do you think we need to keep the tie on for flying? It’s really starting to bother me.”

 

“You know, maybe it wouldn’t be bothering you if you just put it on properly this morning-”

 

“Kyle, you were rushing me! What did you expect me to do? Tie a perfect tie in 3 seconds? I’d like to see you try that, Mr. I Woke Up Like This.” Stan demanded and pulled off the tie, throwing it into his bag. Kyle mumbled in defeat and took a look around his surroundings.

 

“Are you sure flyings this way? It looks like we’re going outside.”   
  


“Do you think we can fly indoors, dumbass?” Stan snorted, making Kyle’s face turn into a shade similar to his hair. He flipped him off and turned away in embarrassment. They continued walking in silence as they left the school building. The sun shined down at the two, a breeze blowing through the freshly cut grass.  _ This place is definitely more well kept than Denver.  _

 

“Oi! Are you telling me that those fags are in my class too!” Kyle immediately stopped at the voice he knew too well for the first day. 

 

“Are you fucking kidding me. Cartman’s in this class too?!” he barked out, making Stan flinch next to him. Kyle huffed out in anger, balling his fists. After what happened with Craig, Cartman had stayed relatively calm through charms. But as soon as history of magic rolled in, he was his asshole self again. He kept asking the professor why there were ‘dirty muggleborns’ in the class learning the history behind magic.

 

“All I’m saying is professor, those muggleborns don’t deserve to learn the history behind us purebloods. If we don’t have the learn their history, they shouldn’t learn ours.”

 

The professor gave him detention almost immediately and took points from the slytherin house, earning insults from the other slytherins. Why they cared so much about some stupid points still confused Kyle. Cartman reacted by declaring that everyone in the room was disrespecting his authority. He got another week of detention after that.

 

“There you guys are!” Kyle’s ears perked up at the familiar voice. His face broke into a grin seeing the orange jacket. Kenny practically ran towards them, dragging a reluctant Tweek with him. 

 

“Kenny, agh, you dick! I was talking to Scott!” the hufflepuff yelled out squirming out of Kenny’s grasp. Kenny raised his hands in defence, but the smirk on his face said the opposite. Tweek glared at him and turned towards Stan and Kyle and gave a small wave. Under the bright sunlight, Kyle could see prominent bags on his face that he didn’t remember seeing during breakfast. A spark of worry lit within him.

 

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Tweek flinched at the question, looking away from Kyle. Kyle wanted to tell him to get more sleep, especially when school had just started. But he quickly closed his mouth seeing the state the blond was in. Tweek’s body was shaking and twitching, his eyes full of fear. Kyle recognized that look from the bullies back at home. He sighed and took a step closer to Tweek, putting a hand on his shoulder. The boy flinched at the sudden touch, but relaxed seeing Kyle’s soft smile. “It’s ok, dude. First day anxiety, prevents you from sleeping, huh?”

 

“Class! Gather around! Place you belongings on the side!” a strict voice called from a few feet away. “And you there, Marsh! Where is your tie! Put it back on. 5 points from gryffindor!” Kyle smirked at Stan, who flipped him off, making the teacher give him another look. He turned to Tweek and smiled once more and looked back at their new teacher, the smile fading immediately. The women standing before them frowned and beckoned them to come closer. She had short spiky hair and eyes that made Kyle uneasy.

 

“I am Madam Hooch and I will be your flying instructor. First things first, going against rules will not tolerated in my class. You will listen to my instructions at all times and do as I say. To ensure your safety, this is essential.” Kyle felt a chill go down his spine. Madam Hooch’s voice was deathly serious, the frown on her face making it worse. Her tone made it one thing clear: go against her and you’re dead where you stand. 

 

She looked over each student and took a step back, waving a hand. As she did so, dozens of boomsticks appeared out of nowhere, lining itself  in two lines behind her. Several students, including Kyle, gasped in awe. Madam Hooch turned and made her way around the students, creating a better view for them.

 

“Now, go stand next to a boomstick and wait for further instructions.” with that, the students ran to the broomsticks wildly. Stan, who was one of the wild students, was hooting as he ran, pulling a very enthusiastic Kenny along with him. Kyle sighed and slowly made his way to the broomsticks, worry building up inside him.  _ What if I can’t use a broomstick? I am a muggleborn after all. I don’t know any shit that was in the opening paragraphs in the textbook. Oh man it’s going to be primary school all over again.  _

 

“Hng, Kyle, is something bothering you?” Tweek spoke up from next to him, barely audible by the mass of screaming students. Kyle glanced over to him and saw that his tics had died down. He smiled weakly and pointed at the broomsticks. Tweek nodded grimly and pulled on his hair. “Scared that, ack, they won’twork? Me too, man. Agh, this is toomuchpressure! Flying? What if you fall! Oh man, I can’tdothis. It looks funthough. But, ngh, I don’t want to fall and break my neck!” 

 

Kyle laughed softly, seeing his indecisive friend. Tweek grinned back at him, letting go of his hair. 

 

“Made you laugh.”

 

“Shut up, I just remembered something funny.”

 

* * *

 

  
  


“Up!” Kyle screamed once more. His throat felt scratchy, as if he was going to lose his voice, but he couldn’t quit now. He glared down at his broomstick and stuck out his hand. “I said up!”

 

But the broomstick remained where it layed, leaving Kyle more frustrated than before. He looked up to see various other students already in air, chasing around each other, only to be  yelled at by Madam Hooch. Even Tweek’s muggleborn friend, Scott, was flying. Shaky, but he was still off the ground. Stan was high up in the air, yelling at Kenny about something. Kenny grinned and flew up next to a blond posh slytherin, pulling on his robe. The boy cried out and whipped out his wand, making Kenny fly away to where Stan was.  _ They’re enjoying themselves.  _

 

That left a total of 6 people left on the ground. Kyle, Tweek, Cartman, Donovan, and two other blond kids that Kyle didn’t know. 

 

“Shit!” one of the blond boys yelled out, making everybody jump. He had weary eyes and messy hair, his tie loosened.  _ Man, he must be really upset about not being able to fly.  _ “Cock!” the boy cried out this time and Kyle shook his head.  _ Ok now that’s just weird. _

 

“Well, well, well, what do we have here. Looks like little Clyde over here can’t fly either. What a shame really, but I guess he’s too fat to get off the ground.”

 

“I’m not fat! Besides look who’s talking. You can’t fly either fatass!”

 

“Hey! I’m not fat, I’m big boned!”

 

“Fellas! Come on now, don’t fight.”

 

“God, will you please shut up, Butters?”

 

Kyle groaned, cupping his head in his hands. There was no way this class could get worse for him.

 

“God! Fucking! UP!” Clyde shrieked out, shoving his hand in front of him. The broomstick began to shake beneath the hand and Clyde let out a small squeal, shaking his hand frantically. “You see that! In your face Cartman! I do have the potential to be the quidditch star after-”

 

Thwack! The sound of wood hitting skin rang through the open field. Kyle’s eyes widened as he ran up to the brunette, who now had tears streaming down his face. There was a red line running from his forehead down to his chin, just to the side of his nose. The broomstick did indeed go up, but not to his hand.

 

“Ha! Are you guys seeing this? Look at this loser! First he can’t even lift a broomstick and now this? No wonder he killed his mom, he’s an idiot! Heard she died on the toilet. Can you even go to the bathroom without crying, Clyde? I think not! I heard you cry every night, saying how sorry you are to your mom in your sleep!” Cartman hollered, laughing as he did so. 

 

Silence filled the field. For what felt like hours, only Clyde’s soft weeps could be heard. Kyle gritted his teeth, stomping over to Cartman. He yanked his shirt and shouted in his face.

 

“You fucking asshole! I don’t care who you are or what fucking authority you have. I don’t give two shits that you’re a pureblood. Nothing can justify what you just said, fatass!” he cried out. He saw Cartman’s eyes grow wide, just like the bully’s eyes. But there was no fear in them, just disgust.

 

“Hey, get off me you stupid muggleborn! You’re getting your filth on my pure body!” Cartman yelled and pushed Kyle into the ground. Kyle grunted and pulled himself back up, looking for Madam Hooch. Surely she will stop him. It was no use. She was too busy trying to calm Clyde down along with Craig, Jimmy, and the other boy from the train. “You’re defending purebloods now, you filthy jew?”

 

Kyle’s blood ran cold.  _ How does he know that? I haven’t told anyone about that. If he’s a pureblood that means there’s no way he could’ve been to my old school.  _ He swallowed hard. Memories of all the bullies back at home were rushing back to him. The sneer on Cartman’s face grew larger. He clasps his hands together and rubbed them, glancing over to someone behind Kyle.

 

“Oh Kahl, there’s no secrets you can keep from me. I know everything about everyone. No one’s safe from me.” he lifted a finger and pointed it towards Kenny, who let out a muffled sound of confusion. “Let’s start with him. Did you know, Kahl, that he’s too poor to even afford actual food at home? He lived off of frozen waffles. No wonder he was so excited to come here, it’s basically free food. But that’s not it. His family didn’t have the money to buy him supplies so he had to work all summer to buy those. And even so, he could only buy the lowest quality items.

 

“Your gay friend Stan over there? He’s a raging alcoholic. You should’ve seen him back home. Drinking his ass off everyday, only because he was bored. Taking drinks from his dad’s alcohol cabinet so he could get drunk. Stealing from his own family. A sad way to live life, if you ask me. But then again, it runs in his family. Like father, like son. I’ve never seen his dad sober. 

 

“That twitchy one? Oh man, he’s fucked up. He always talks about these underpants gnomes and-”

 

Kyle tackled Cartman into the ground, something snapping within his mind. They fell to the ground with Cartman trying to wiggle himself out of Kyle’s grasps. That only made Kyle grasp him harder.

 

“Shut the fuck up Cartman. I don’t care what kind of bullshit story you came up with to make my friends feel bad. I honestly don’t give two fucks if they’re true. Because they’re my friends, no matter what they’ve done or gone through,” Kyle slowly lifted himself up, glaring down at Cartman. “And you are at no place to fucking tell other people their secrets. The next you do that to my friends, I swear, I’m going to punch your fucking teeth in!”

 

He took a few steps backs, glaring at Cartman one last time. The fear in his eyes was pronounced now. Regret started to build up within himself as he turned away, looking for Stan. He was standing with Kenny, shocked at what just happened. Tweek was standing behind the two along with Scott and the blond that didn’t yell out profanities.

 

Kyle kept his eyes on the ground, reluctantly making his way to his friends.  _ I did it again. At least I didn’t actually get into a fight this time. But what would my friends say? What would they think of me now?  _ Taking in a deep breath, he glanced over at his friends. 

 

Stan ran over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders. Kyle grimaced and closes his eyes tightly, expecting a punch or yellings in his face. But none of that happened. Slowly, he opened his eyes only to find Stan grinning.

 

“Dude! That was fucking awesome! You totally kicked his ass. What was that?” he asked, excitement pouring out. Kyle grinned weakly. None of what he did was ‘awesome’, it was horrible. He’s doing the same things the bullies had done to him back home. Using power to bring fear to enemies so they don’t attack you. He was becoming one of them. 

 

“It’s a jersey thing, Stan. You wouldn’t get it.”

 

* * *

  
  


By the time astronomy rolled in, everyone knew about what was being called ‘the flying incident’. Everywhere Kyle went people started asking “why did you beat up Cartman?” “Why do you hate purebloods?” “What’s a ‘jersery thing’?” Rumors were spreading like a wildfire about how he was tired of getting teased about being a muggleborn so he striked back. How Cartman drove Kyle’s burning hatred to the edge and it spilled.

 

“I just don’t get it,” Kyle mumbled as he sat down in astronomy. “How can I be bitter about being a muggleborn if this whole thing started today?” He groaned and laid his head down on the table. He felt Stan give him light rubs and Kenny pat his head. Tweek gave him a reassuring shriek from the side. 

 

It was first actual school day at Hogwarts and he’s already caused a commotion.  _ Great job, Kyle. You fucked up your only chance of starting a new, better life. Now it’s going to be the same as your old school.  _

 

Kyle heard chairs scraping against the floor in front of him, indicating that more students were filling up the class. To avoid the endless tide of curious students, the four of them had left lunch early to their class. But their professor mistook them as very enthusiastic students, which left a bitter taste in Kyle’s mouth. 

 

“It’s great to see so many students interested in astronomy. Really makes my heart warm. I remember back in my days no one thought about what was happening in the skies.” That comment made it even more awkward for Kyle to tell him that they were just trying to run away from other students.

 

“Hey, Broflovski. Wake up.” Kyle ignored the voice, thinking it’s probably one of the many students that wanted to know how he ‘beat up’ Eric Cartman. “I’m not here to ask you what happened.”

 

Kyle raised his head, glaring at the student. He immediately froze when he saw who it was. 

 

Craig Tucker.

 

He felt himself inching away from the stoic face before him, fear creeping up inside him. Beside him was Clyde, Jimmy, and the other guy. Craig stared at him, his dark eyes unamused. Jimmy gave him a warm smile and a thumbs up. The other guy grinned at him. Clyde reached over the desk and pulled him into a hug. Kyle yelped at the contact, but felt himself easing into it. Clyde nestled his head into his shoulder and he began to pat Clyde’s head. After a while, Clyde started crying into his shoulder. Kyle glanced up and saw Craig give him a nod of approval. 

 

“Thanks for standing up to Clyde back in flying. I would’ve taken care of fatass myself, but I already encountered him once.” he heard Craig say from the side. Clyde pulled away, eyes red and puffy. His face broke into a sloppy grin and he said his thanks as well. 

 

“I just did what I felt like I had to do. He was pissing me off.” Kyle said, shrugging. 

 

“Well Kyle, I declare you cool in my book. And I owe you one. So, if you ever need someone to kick someone’s ass or pull a prank, give Jimmy a message and we’ll help ya right away!” Craig’s head whipped back to Clyde and flipped him off. 

 

“We never agreed on helping them.” He growled. Kyle felt himself starting to sweat hearing that, but Clyde showed no concern. The boy beside the two groaned and took a step forward.

 

“Craig, be nice,” he warned, almost in a motherly way. He stuck a hand forward and smiled at Kyle. “Token Black, nice to meet you. Sorry if they’re a bid out of hand sometimes. I believe we’ve had the same classes so far.” Kyle smiled back and took his hand. Token seemed nice and the most level-headed in that group. After he shook hands with everyone, he stepped back to where he originally stood. 

 

“W-weh-well fellas. Looks like I ha-have more people I can tell my j-jokes to.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all of the nice comments on the previous chapter!! Every single one of them made my heart warm and I appreciated all of them!! Thank you for the continuous support!!
> 
> ALSO!! This story just hit 100 kudos!! Ahh thank you guys so much! I love you all!!
> 
> I know last chapter was a filler chapter, but this one honest feels like one too...? I tried adding some of Kyle's angsty backstory but more will will come later I promise ;)
> 
> Feedback of how you feel about the story so far and what you'd like to see in the future are always appreciated!! 
> 
> Any questions about the story can either be left here or on my tumblr/twitter: @astroeggo
> 
> Thanks you everyone!! Sending all of yall love :))
> 
> ps I'll try to update one more time before school starts again
> 
> -egg


	6. Blue Hatted Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Tweek has a panic attack. Descriptions/experiences of a panic attack is written in this chapter.

Tweek had to admit, school was far more interesting than what he had expected. Back home, he stayed in his room when he wasn’t working, shut away from the rest of the world. He had a safe space, a place where his anxiety ws kept at bay. Yet, even under that perfect condition, he was unhappy. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but the crippling loneliness he felt seemed to grow the older he got. He saw everyone else playing outside his window while he sat alone on his bed, playing with legos with shaky fingers.  _ That’s not something I can control. Besides, in return for some loneliness, I get a simple life, so no worries, right? _

 

But Hogwarts, it brought new perspective to Tweek. He had to leave his room in the mornings, no matter how he felt about going to class hat day. He was forced to interact with other students, whether that was small talk or asking for help. And even though he dreaded speaking to others before, he found himself enjoying it. From the daily ‘good mornings’ to his roommates to the ‘can I copy your homework?’ after classes from his new friends. 

 

It was a foreign feeling to Tweek. And he loved every moment of it. 

 

He couldn’t remember why he was so scared about going to Hogwarts in the first place. He had a home, somewhere he truly could feel safe.

 

* * *

 

  
  


“Now class, who can answer this question?” Professor Gwen asked, pointing at the blackboard. Tweek eyed the board wearily, regret of staying up all night finally catching up to him. Professor Gwen was a great teacher and astronomy with him was far from boring. He brought fascinating facts to class everyday, along with beautiful pictures of space. But no matter how hard Tweek tried, none of the information stayed in his memories. 

 

Twitching, he reached to the thermos inside his bag, filled with freshly brewed coffee Professor Sprout gave to him after lunch. She was the only place he could obtain coffee in Hogwarts, much to Tweek’s distress. The teacher had caught him after classes one time, rummaging through the kitchen looking for coffee. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny were too busy trying to keep the house elves calm that they didn’t notice the teacher walking into the chaotic kitchen.

 

The four feared for their lives and house points as Professor Sprout came closer, eyes scanning the messy room. Tweek saw how aggressive students got about house points, a system Hogwarts had to reward and punish students by houses. Doing good deeds would allow one to gain points, vise versa. The house with the most point would be crowned a winner at the end of the school year. Out of the four, Tweek was the only one who hasn’t cost his house to lose points yet and he wanted to keep that record. 

 

Professor Sprout walked up to the four and stopping in front of Tweek, a warm smile forming on her face. His hands began to sweat, his thoughts conjuring every possible bad ending to this encounter. However, the teacher simply placed a cup of coffee in his hands, telling him to come to her whenever he wanted coffee. 

 

“I’ve been watching you, Tweek. And I saw how distressed you became without coffee. I suppose we can work out a deal for you to get coffee.” she said and left as the four were frozen in place, in complete shock. 

 

He later went to see Professor Sprout, to ask about ‘the deal’.  _ Oh god, she’s going to slowly sell pieces of me to the black market.  _ The teacher sat in her room, which was covered in plants at every corner, much like their common room. 

 

“Tweek! I’ve been waiting for you to come. Please, sit in that seat in front of me.” she told him cheerfully, too cheerful for Tweek to trust her. Reluctantly, he pulled his body closer to the chair and sat on it, watching out for any changes in the teacher’s expression. She had her hands folded neatly on her lap, sides if her eyes crinkling as she smiled. “So Tweek, I know how much you like coffee. And I would be very happy to supply you with them, seeing that they help you focus in class.”

 

Her eyes glanced to the side, Tweek catching it immediately. An uncontrollable yelp escaped his mouth as thoughts rushed through his head.  _ She’s lying, she glanced to the side. She’s goingtokillme. She’s going to drug all my coffee! She’s going to sell me to slavery. She’s going to- _

 

“I just want to ask you for a favor in return, if that’s okay with you.” Tweek’s head jerked violently, anxiety piling up. “Would you be able to help out in the greenhouse to look after some of my plants? I can never get to all of them and I hate seeing them wilt. You can even grow coffee beans in there as well, if you’d like.” 

 

Tweek’s heart leapt from his chest. This deal was too good to be true. The deal was perfect, in every aspect thought possible. He could get coffee, as much as he wanted, if he helped maintain the greenhouse.  _ But why? She knows that I’m doing ok in herbology. So it’s not a punishment then… _

 

“Well? Anyone know the answer?” Professor Gwen’s stern voice pulled Tweek away from his thoughts. He gazed at the front of the class where the professor stood and sighed. Professor Gwen insisted on started off with learning what he thought was the basis of astronomy, planets. The board featured a detailed drawing of Mercury with arrows pointed all over it, indicating the different elements found on the planet. No matter how hard or long Tweek stared at the board, none of the information made sense to him.

 

He groaned, trying to cover up a shriek that threatened to come out. His eyes frantically looked around the room, searching for hints in case he got cold called. 

 

“Ah, Tweek. I haven’t heard from you recently. Would you like to tell the class about the muggle’s spacecrafts to Mercury?” Tweek’s blood ran cold. He slowly faced the front where Professor Gwen stood, a small smile on his face. His mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to produce any sound. His hands began to tremble, his mind becoming blank as he felt the cold stares of the other students. 

 

Tweek wanted to stop, but his body betrayed him, twitching and shaking out of control. His hands could no longer hold onto the quill he was using to take notes with, ink dripping all over his paper. He gasped and tried to grab onto the quill, not wanting to ruin his notes. Suddenly, his hand twitched, knocking over the bottle of ink next to the paper. Tweek’s breath hitched seeing the ink slowly seeped into the near blank paper. 

 

_ Nonononononono. This can’t behappening. Why do I alwaysruin everything, why can’t I do the simplestoftasks _ .  _ Now everyone’s going to see what a fuckupIam. Nonononono. Stop. I need it to stop. Nononono.  _

 

His hands grabbed onto his hair desperately, pulling hard, trying to get his mind off of the mess he had created. He winced, feeling the sharp pain of hair getting pulled out and cried out. 

 

“Jeez, look at the spaz. Can’t even answer the question.”

 

“Did he just pull out his own hair? What a freak.”

 

Tweek wanted to shriek. He wanted to tell everyone that he wasn’t a freak, he wasn’t a spaz. He wanted to stand up and yell at everyone to shut up. Everyone in the room seemed like they were whispering, their voices layering on top of each other. Tweek let go of his hair immediately, covering his ears. The volume of the room was cranked up out of nowhere, making it unbearable for him. Even the shuffling of papers, the scratching of quills, the smallest sounds were becoming irritable. 

 

“Tweek?” Kenny softly asked next to him, reaching out a hand. Tweek’s eyes widened and inched away from his hand, terror written all over his face. Kenny’s eyebrows furrowed with worry as he twitched again.

 

“Sir, the answer is two. There’s only been two muggle spacecrafts that have visited Mercury because of how close the planet is to the sun.” Craig’s stoic voice called from behind Tweek. His head jerked back, meeting eyes with the bored looking slytherin. His dark eyes met with Tweek’s blue ones and he felt a chill go down his spine. Craig’s eyes were cold and hard to tell the color. 

Tweek yelped and sunk into his chair, petrified after seeing Craig’s stone face.  _ Oh god, he’s pissed at me. He thinks I’m a loser that can’t answer the simplest of questions. He’s going tokillme!  _

 

His eyes jumped from object to object, landing on anything that created noise. Fingers tapping the table. Quills scratching to write notes. Feet clicking against the floor. Shuffling around paper. Someone humming the imperial march. Tweek’s chest became tight, making it harder for him to breathe.  _ Nononononono. Not here, please no… _

 

Tweek’s heart hammered inside of him, threatening to leap out. It’s loud thumping noise consumed the other sounds he heard, leaving Tweek unable to hear what was happening around him. His breathing sped up, in attempt to make up for the tightness he felt. He grabbed onto the edge of his table, trying to get it to stop shaking. But he couldn’t. His hand went numb and he could only feel a buzzing sensation in his fingers, not the table. 

 

Sweat started dripping from his face. His breathing started to get harder and harder to control. He could hear the ragged breathing along with his heart beat, both speeding up exponentially.

 

And just like that, he lost control. 

 

Tweek fell off his chair, hyperventilating. His body hit the ground with the thud, gaining everyone’s attention. Once again every student’s eyes were on him, making his breathing worse. He grabbed his hair, fear and panic running through him.

 

“Tweek? Tweek!? Oh god, someone help!” he heard someone yell, but he couldn’t move. All his body could do was tremble on the ground as he hyperventilated.  _ Am I dying? I am, aren’t I? My lungs are going to explode and I’m going to- _

 

He shrieked out, hitting his arm on the table leg next to him. But he couldn’t feel pain. His entire body was numb. The edges of his vision started becoming black, as if he was passing out. 

 

“Hey! Try to calm down your breathing, inhale for 5 and exhale for 6! Come on man, you gotta try-” another voice yelled as Tweek caught a flash of blue.  _ Breathe?! What is this guy doing! I can’t fucking breathe that’s the problem!  _ He screamed in frustration and slammed his fist down on the ground, hoping the pain would distract him from the hyperventilation. 

 

His body curled up in a ball, trembling as his breathing became more and more erratic. He wanted it to stop, he wanted out, he need out. He couldn’t deal with it any longer.  _ Nononononono. Why is this happening again? Why is thishappeninghere? I was supposed to getbetter. The pills were supposed tohelpme! Whywhywhywhywhywhywhy… This was supposed to be redemption. I was supposed to be okayhere. Be normal foronce.  _

 

“Hang in there, Professor Mackey’s coming soon.” Tweek couldn’t see who was talking, but he heard his voice, clear as day. It left a warm feeling in his chest that he couldn’t explain. His breathing started to labor, as if the voice became some sort of anchor for him. 

 

Then, a warm hand slipped into Tweek’s icy ones. His body spasmed at the sudden contact, taken back by the foreign anatomy. The hand gripped his tightly, preventing it from shaking further. Instinctively, Tweek squeezed back, taking the hand as a reminder that he was still in reality, in an astronomy class. The hand was oddly comforting, the warmth of their hand spreading to him. 

 

Slowly, his breathing became it’s normal speed and his trembles died down. The hand stayed where it was, in the confines of Tweek’s hand. It even started to sub the back of his hand, giving him reassurance that he had never felt before. 

 

“Who…?” he managed out in a raspy voice, throat dried up from the hyperventilation. He felt the hand flinch at the question and gave him another squeeze. Tweek wanted to squeeze back, but it was too late. The mystery hand let go, leaving his previously warm hand out in the cold once more. He heard someone curse out, running into a chair most likely. 

 

“Fuck!” a nasally voice cried out and quickly shuffled out. Tweek strained his ears to see if he could hear anything else. Silence. Growing worried, he cracked open his tightly closed eyes, yelping as the bright room lights attacked him. Forcing his eyes open, he glanced around the room, only to meet the eyes of another man he never saw before.

 

“Ahh! Who the fuck!” he yelled out and the teacher in front of him raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“M’kay, let’s not use that kind of foul language here. You’re still a first year, how do you know that word?” The teacher wore a green shirt underneath his robes, a rough clothing style like Professor Gwen. He wore glasses on his kind of abnormally large head. “I’m Professor Mackey, I teach muggle studies here. But I’m also the counselor for this school, m’kay? Now Tweek, do you always get panic attacks?”

 

Tweek felt like his mind was having a system overload. So many information was getting thrown at him, none of which he could process. He was still having problems getting over the mystery figure that helped him calm down. They knew how to ground him in reality and did it in the best way possible. He felt his face grow hot the more he thought about the hand holding. He shook his head and cleared his throat. 

 

“Yes? Ngh, I didn’t know theywerepanic attacks. My parents, agh, always just toldme to breathe better. I thought I was justcrazy.” he mumbled out. Professor Mackey stared at him in disbelief. He began ranting about how horrible it must’ve been to grow up in a household that was so unsupportive. But Tweek could care less. He wanted to know who helped him.

 

“Gah, excuse me? Did you see anyoneinhere?” Professor Mackey blinked at him couple of times and shook his head. The room was empty by the time he arrived. Seeing Tweek frown, he told him that his friends and Professor Gwen were waiting outside. Tweek’s face lit up and bounced out, eager to find out who the mystery person was.

 

“Dude! You’re okay! Oh man, we were so worried about you!” Stan yelled with glee and ran up to him, hugging him tightly. Tweek gasped as Kyle and Kenny joined in on the hug, both bear hugging him. Tweek couldn’t help but to smile, seeing how much his friends cared about what had happened. He hugged back, thanking each one for staying. 

 

“Your other friends wanted to stay too, Tweek,” Professor Gwen told him once the hugging session was over, due to Kyle’s whine about it being too gay. Tweek looked up at him, confused. Professor Gwen smiled and continued. “Your friends, like Scott and Butters. Even those from other houses like Jimmy and Clyde, they all wanted to stay. But I told them to go back, so that they could be there for you when you come back. And I must apologize, Tweek. I didn’t mean to put such pressure on you.”

 

Professor Gwen put his head down in shame as he finished his sentence. Tweek smiled weakly. He knew that he didn’t mean to do it. His panic attacks comes and goes. There’s not a set thing that could trigger him. Besides, he knew it was coming soon. He hasn’t had one since he came to Hogwarts. It was three months since his last one, which was right before going to the station to get on the train to Hogwarts.

 

“It’s okay, professor. It happens tomealot.” He smiled up at Professor Gwen, who finally lifted his head up. “Professor, ack, did you happen to see someonecomeout of the room beforeme?” The professor stared at him in confusion until Kyle spoke up.

 

“Yeah, dude. I thought I saw someone walk out the room, which was weird because…” Kyle’s words faded out like he remembered something. “Craig…” 

 

Tweek’s head jerked towards him. “What do you mean, Kyle? Ngh, was it him? I need to go findhim!”

 

“Wait Tweek! You still might be-” Kenny cried out after him, but Tweek didn’t want to waste time. He hurried out of the corridor to the main hallway. 

 

The hall was bustling with students that just finished their last class of the day, making it hard for him to identify anyone. He pushed past the mass of people, twitching and shrieking sorrys along the way. He made it to the edge of the castle, where he could go outside. The open field gave Tweek a clear view for looking for the blue hatted slytherin.

 

“Wait! Craig!” he yelled out when he caught sight of him. Craig turned back towards him, face stoic as usual. Clyde, who stood next to him, happily bounded over to Tweek when he finally reached the group, hugging him tightly. 

 

“Oh man, Tweek! You’re okay! I was so worried about you! Man I thought I couldn’t do anything because when it happened to my-”

 

“C-Clyde was crying like a baby,” Jimmy snickered, earning a slap on the shoulder from a pouting Clyde. 

 

Token turned to him and asked how he was feeling and if Professor Mackey helped. All Tweek could do was give him a thumbs up, for his attention was focused completely on the last remaining member. 

 

Craig had continued walking, his back to Tweek. Frustrated, he called out his name again, storming over to him as he did so. Craig finally stopped, face unphased as he turned towards him. Tweek recognized the blue of his hat to be the same as the guy that tried to calm him down.  _ Could he have been the one to hold my hand too? _ __   
  


“Nck, I wanted to say thank you for what you did back in-” Craig waved a hand in front of him, interrupting Tweek. He groaned, growing irritated that he after running across the fucking castle, he still couldn’t thank him. “Look asshole. I, ack, fucking ran across the god damn castle to find you so you better let me thank you.”

 

Craig pointed up at the sky. Reluctantly, Tweek looked up to where he pointed, gasping when he did. Snow. Snow was starting to fall around them. Marveled, Tweek stuck out a hand. A small piece of snow landed on it and quickly melted. 

 

“You think this snow’s as cold as your hand?” he asked, barely audible.

 

Tweek felt a blush creep up to his face, flustered that someone he barely knew helped him through something so vulnerable to him. He watched as Craig’s cheeks became slightly rosy, probably due to the rapidly dropping temperature from the snow fall.

 

“Well if it is, I hope you can warm me up.” he joked, smiling up at the nouriette.

 

Tweek looked up at the sky, missing how Craig’s face grew a shade darker at his comment. He also missed him pull down his hat and flip off Clyde as he hooted from afar. 

 

He missed all of that, but he caught one thing. The warm feeling Craig’s help left in his chest and the smile that he couldn’t wipe off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh first Tweek and Craig interaction!!
> 
> I hope you guys liked this chapter! I tired to develop their relationship a bit further than the 'oh i know him we're classmates' phase.
> 
> Question is, why did Craig help Tweek, a guy he barely knew to begin with? 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for the positive comments on the last chapter! All the kudos too! It's really heart warming!
> 
> Feel free to leave comments about any questions or what you'd like to see in the future of this story!
> 
> Stay awesome yall!
> 
> -egg


	7. Flying with Success?

Stan never considered himself to be popular, but flying class gave him a small feeling of what ‘popularity’ feels like. 

 

Sure, he wasn’t the best at flying in the class, there were plenty of others that could fly just as well as he can. Still, other students came up to him during class to ask for tips and pointers for flying. It was a new feeling that Stan didn’t really know how to digest. It was great that so many people wanted to talk to him, but why him?

 

There was Scott in his class, a true wild card in his opinion. He knew nothing about flying, yet he had the skill and speed that could easily top some of the pureblood flyers. But the truly best thing about him was that he never shows it off. He’s an extraordinary flyer, fit to be part of the team, but he keeps it to himself. The only times Stan sees him fly at his true capacity was during practice quidditch matches that they did in class. 

 

Then there were the slytherin flyers, Kenny, Clyde, and Tucker. 

 

Kenny, as much as he hates to admit, had the most guts when it came to flying. He flies at a speed no one else in the class dared to. He weaves through trees when Madame Hooch isn’t looking, only to come back with branches stuck in his hair and clothes. He was also the only student that could fly without holding onto the broomstick. 

 

Clyde, on the other hand, was all about the basics. Though he struggled in the beginning, in a span of a few months, he grew into a skilled flyer. He wasn’t a fast flyer, usually lagging behind in lap exercises, but he kills it in skill based activities. 

 

And then there was Tucker, who was equally skilled in all aspects of flying. He wasn’t as fast as Kenny, but he still had enough speed to be faster than Stan. He wasn’t as skilled as Clyde, yet he beat Stan in every basic training they’ve had so far. He also had an height advantage, which allowed him to grab the quaffle easily during games, frustrating Stan further. 

 

There was also Token from ravenclaw, who was absolutely fucking perfect. He had speed, he had skill, and on top of it all, he was smart. Token was everything Stan aspired to live the perfect Hogwarts life. He couldn’t understand why Token never stood up to be a leader during quidditch matches.

 

“Stan, will you please stop analyzing our classmates?” Kyle asked, exasperated at his friend. Stan looked up at Kyle, who had stood up from the bench they were sitting on, brushing off his robe. “It’s just a game.”

 

“It’s just game? Did you really just say that Kyle? Madam Hooch isn’t going to be there to supervise today because he needs to go check on Kenny and Butters in the infirmary. You know what that means?”

 

“You can finally play quidditch the real way. Yes Stan, I know what it means because that's the only fucking thing you’ve been talking about for the past week!” Kyle groaned and turned his back to Stan. Stan quickly got up and ran up to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

 

“Don’t bitch about, dude. It’s finally my chance to kick Tucker’s ass. Madam Hooch’s rules are too friendly. You can play too, if you want to.” He said grinning, which only made Kyle groan again. 

 

“You know I’m not a flyer, Stan.”

 

* * *

 

By the time the two arrived to class, after dropping off their bags and grabbing broomsticks, the open field was divided into two distinct groups: those who want to play quidditch by Madam Hooch’s rules and those who don’t. Kyle locked eyes with Stan as he left him to go stand with the other non-flyers. Tweek smiled at Kyle as he approached, whispering something in his ear when he stood next to him. Kyle smiled weakly in response. Frowning, Stan walked into the crowd to find Scott, who was standing at the edge of the mass.

 

“You think I’ll finally be able to be a seeker today?” He asked as Stan stood next to him. He gave Scott a nod, who grinned in return. Stan spent days trying to convince him that he was skilled enough to be a seeker. Though Scott finally cracked in a few days, they couldn’t test out his ability due to Madam Hooch. Because the snitch that seekers caught in the actual games were hard to manage, especially in a class of first years, she never allowed them to have a seeker during games. But today, anything was possible. 

 

Madam Hooch’s rules were always about safety, though that didn’t prevent Kenny or Butters from getting hurt constantly. The two were always in and out of the infirmary, which created a weird bond between them. Whenever Stan visited the infirmary, Kenny was sitting on Butters’ bed, telling him about the crazy experiences he had before coming to Hogwarts. Butters never got off his bed, not because he was lazy, but because he recovered at a normal speed. Kenny, on the other hand, was never fazed by all his injuries. 

 

“Well, well, well Kahl. I see you’re standing with the other pussies. Too scared to play quidditch the real way? This is why I hate muggles.” Cartman laughed, pulling Stan away from his thoughts. He glared at the fat douche, who was now standing in front of their group, as if to represent them. Stan gritted his teeth. 

 

“Why are you even on that side, Cartman? You can’t get your fatass off the ground in the first place.” Kyle yelled back, other students hooting in agreement. Hearing this Cartman stomped his foot on the ground, claiming that he was just ‘big boned’. 

 

“You’re just proving my point, Kahl. All jews care about is their money, so they don’t give a flying fuck about quidditch. You’re the perfect example!” Cartman pointed his hand towards where Stan stood. “You see any jews on this side? That’s right, none. Because we, unlike you Kahl, aren’t some faggy jew ginger.”

 

Stan held his breath. Cartman was riling Kyle up.  _ Kyle please, I know you’re smarter than this. You may be a hothead, but you’re a smart one. Please don’t fall for his plans. I have faith in you so plea- _

 

“Don’t belittle my people, fatass! Fine! I’ll take this fucking challenge! I’ll prove that I’m better at quidditch than you!” 

 

“Agh! Kyle! Why wouldyoutake the fuckingchallenge! Jesus christ man! This is toomuchpressure!”

 

“That fucking idiot…” Scott groaned and Stan nodded his head grimly. “Dude, he can’t even fly. How the fuck does he think he’s going to beat Cartman?” 

 

“I really don’t know dude. I just hope he can throw his pride away and step down from the challenge,” Stan mumbled, not believing a single word he just said. There was no way Kyle was going to let Cartman go after everything he said. And there was no way Cartman was going to leave Kyle alone if he lost against him. 

  
  


“Well done, Broflovski. You’ve dug yourself into a hole you can’t get out of.” Red droned on sarcastically. Her voice wasn’t as monotonous as her cousin, but Stan could see the similarity between their tones. Kyle flipped her off and covered his face, ashamed. 

 

“Look Red. I know I fucked up, don’t rub it in my face. I just- I just need to find some way to beat him at this game.” He whispered. Tweek put a hand on his shoulder, twitching and gazed at the crowd around them. 

 

Most of the class was standing around Kyle, curious to his next move. More importantly, how he was planning on beating Cartman. Stan chewed on his anxiously as he thought of every possible way they could play against fatass.  _ Kyle can’t fly, but we can. All we have to do is get Kyle into the air and be part of the team. If we play the rest of the game, we can beat Cartman. But who will side with Cartman? It’s not like he can get off the ground in the first place.  _

 

“Fuck! Guys!” Thomas yelled as he ran closer to them. Stan flinched and looked towards the blond. As great as he was, Stan could never get used to Thomas’ sudden outbursts of curses. “Cartman, shit! Changed the rules. He wants the, cock! The people that couldn’t fly on the first, shit! Day all on the same team. Fuck! Otherwise, it’s separated by house.”

 

“Ugh! Are you fucking kidding me!” Tweek screamed in response. “I can’t fucking fly man! He can’t say shit either! He was oneof the peoplethatcould’t fly on the first day too. That fucking asshole!” He stomped his feet and glared over to where Cartman stood in the distance. He let out a small growl that sent goosebumps all over Stan’s arms. “I didn’t have my fucking coffee todaybecausehe fucking spilled it. And now this!? I’ll fucking show him.”

 

The crowd fell silent after hearing Tweek’s speech, terrified. For a boy that was so small, he had an aura that clearly stated “stay away” when he was mad. He gripped his fist tightly and turned to Kyle. Kyle’s eyes were wide, taken back by Tweek’s actions. He quickly replaced it with a smile and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Tweek’s tense shoulder relaxed a small bit with the reassuring touch, but the glare on his face remained intense. 

 

“I, fuck! Want to join too. Shit! I’m sick of Cartman.” Thomas spoke up, stepping out of the crowd. Low murmurs spread through the group, everyone not believing their eyes. 

 

“They can’t fly. What are they trying to do?”

 

“This is so fucking humiliating to even watch.”

 

Stan’s ears picked up on the conversation of the two girls standing next to him. The girls pointed towards the center of the group where Kyle stood, snickering. Stan pushed past the two, making the girls curse out to him. He glared back and flipped them off, earning gasps of disbelief from the two. Ignoring them, he stood next to Kyle, crossing his arms.

 

“Look, guys, this might sound impossible, but just look at them. They’re all scared of flying, just like all of us first were. And now? They’re standing up to their fears and facing them. I think that’s pretty fucking amazing. So if any of you want to talk shit about them for being brave, you’re going to have to go through me.” He declared, eyes still focused on the girls. 

 

“And me too,” Scott yelled from the crowd. Stan saw Kyle’s face break into a smile, almost relieved to see the amount of support he was getting. One by one the crowd began agreeing with Stan’s statement, standing by Kyle. Clyde walked over, almost reluctantly and dropped his head. 

 

“I’m sorry Kyle. Token and Craig wanted to help you beat Cartman too, but,” he glanced at the first few that spoke up for Kyle’s sake. “If the hufflepuffs and gryffindors are on your side, they have no choice but to be on Cartman’s side.” 

 

Kyle grinned at Clyde, putting an arm around his shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Just knowing that they wanted to help is good enough for me. Besides, having you here is already fucking perfect, dude.”

  
  


Stan adjusted his robes once last time, holding onto his broomstick tightly. His team and Cartman’s team were standing on opposite sides of the field, ready to play at any moment. He looked to the side, where the rest of the group stood. On Kyle’s side was Scott, Tweek, Thomas, Clyde, Red, Kyle, and Stan. Cartman, on the other hand, had Tucker, Token, Christophe, Kevin, Gregory, Leslie, and Nichole. None of them seemed happy to be on his side, especially after hearing that Cartman himself wasn’t participating. 

 

“Well, what are you fags doing? Start playing!” Cartman yelled from where he sat on the ground. Stan grumbled but did as he said, mounting the broomstick, He glanced towards Kyle, who was visibly shaking on top of his broomstick. 

 

“Hey dude, it’s going to be alright. Just kick off the ground hard. I’ve seen you fly before and I know you can do it again.” He whispered softly into his ear. Kyle’s face turned pink at the invasion of personal space and he nodded briskly, adjusting his position. “Ready? One, two three!”

 

On Stan’s cue, everyone shot up into the air, even those who could barely fly. Thomas was screaming profanities as he wobbled his way into the air. Kyle slowly rose from the ground, broomstick swinging violently side to side as he did so. Surprisingly, out of the three, Tweek had the most control. He was up in the air with Scott, eyes glued on the quaffle Gregory was holding. 

 

“Where is the bludger? Am I holding this bat for no reason?” Christophe complained from the opposite side in his thick French accent. Kyle, who was chosen to be the beater for brute strength, also looked confused.

 

“Coming right up!” Someone yelled back from the ground and a large snapping noise could be heard. With a whoosh of wind, a black blur came flying to where Stan was in the air. His eyes widened, fearing what was flying in his face.  _ Shit! Is that bludger coming for me? Oh fuck, what do I do? _

 

“Heads up!” Kyle cried out and swung violently, hitting the bludger right in the middle. Stan let out the breath he was holding and turned to the redhead, thankful for his actions. Kyle was staring at the bat in his hands, in shock of what he just did. So much so that he seemed to have forgotten that he was in mid-air, his broomstick stabilizing. “Did-did I just do that?”

 

Stan grinned and gave Kyle a thumbs up, his unsure smile fading away. “Dude, you’re already better than the other beaters I’ve seen in this class. Keep it up!” 

 

“Hey, Marsh! Quit flirting over there and help us get the quaffle!” Red shouted towards them, making Stan’s face flush red. He waved a goodbye and flew next to Red, who flipped him off. 

 

“About time you came to help. Nichole has the quaffle and I need you to somehow make her drop it.” Stan raised an eyebrow at Red, confused at her plan. He wasn’t a beater nor did he have the means to make someone drop the quaffle they were holding. 

 

“You knock it out of her hands, dumbass. Haven’t you heard of running into people? Hooch isn’t here and we’re playing it the rough way.” Red said, winking at the end. Stan shuddered. Her wink was nowhere close to suggestive or flirty. It meant that she had a plan and her plan was to win.  _ Why was she not placed in slytherin like her cousin again? _

 

Stan mustered out a small “oh” and scanned his surroundings. Nichole was hovering at the far side of the field, her ravenclaw tie fluttering in the wind. “I hope you have a plan for this, Red. I don’t want to just seem like an asshole that wants to knock into people.”

 

“Relax, Marsh. This is a competitive game. Not fun if there’s absolutely no drama. Now get out there and do the plan.” she directed, waving her arm. Stan sighed and flew away, aiming his broomstick to Nichole. 

 

Nichole had her head turned away from him, talking with Token about something.  _ Must be thinking of some elaborate plan.  _ He dived below the two just before coming into their sight, so he could sneak up from behind. As quiet as he can, he tipped the tip of his broomstick up and flew upwards. Before Nichole could even react, Stan rammed his body into her, making her cry out and drop the quaffle.

 

“Thanks Stan!” Red called from below. He looked down to tell her to go fuck herself, only to find her hanging off her broomstick with her legs hooked on it. She grinned and pulled herself back on top of the broomstick and she hollered, “It’s called doing gymnastics! You should try it out sometime!” and flew off to the goal posts.

 

“Thoughtful move there, Stan. Without a beater or a bludger around, running into other players might be the best. Though, to a girl?” Token asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Stan grimaced and turned to Nichole, who was rubbing her shoulder. 

 

“Sorry Nichole. I really don’t want Cartman to win,” he said, immediately regretting the last part of his sentence. Nichole laughed, shrugging off the apologetic look he gave her. 

 

“None of us want Cartman to win. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to win. Watch your back next time, Stan. Maybe you won’t have a beater to hit bludgers away from you.” she smiled as she finished her sentence, but it wasn’t a warm one. There was something about her smile that made Stan uneasy as he flew away. 

 

“Oh man, shit’s about to go down,” he mumbled to himself as he watched Red score a goal.

 

The moment the quaffle made it through the goal, someone flew to the goal, grabbing it before anyone else could. Tucker. Stan scowled and gripped the broomstick tightly. He couldn’t let him win, he just couldn’t. 

 

Stan began flying to the other side of the field where Tucker was, a smug look on his face. He was tossing the quaffle up into the air as if he was taunting the other players. It seemed to be working. 

 

Kyle glared towards him and gripped his bat as a bludger flew towards him.  _ Come on Kyle you did it once you can do it again.  _ He raised his bat and swung wildly like before, only this t ime he missed completely and lost his balance. He wobbled 200ft in the air, with an expression of pure horror on his face. Stan cursed and hurried his way over to his friend, swooping next to him so that he could support him.

 

Kyle’s face was pale, paler than usual and his breathing was all over the place. He leaned onto Stan for support and tried to steady himself but it was no use. He couldn’t stabilize himself after everything that had just happened. All the confidence he gained at the beginning of the match was stripped away. 

 

Worried, Stan slowly helped fly Kyle down to the ground. His face started regaining its color as he lowered himself off of the broomstick. He groaned and laid down on the grassy field, clutching his head. The students that stayed on the ground ran up to him, giving him cold water. 

 

“No more flying for me today. Stan, stop worrying about me and get back up there. I’ll be fine.” he moaned out. Stan was not satisfied with the answer, but he knew that Kyle wouldn’t budge. He flew away from the crowd, to the high air once again, eyes peeled for the quaffle. Kevin now held onto it, Tucker close by. 

 

“Now’s my chance.” he murmured under his breath and flew between the two, in attempt to intercept the pass. But Kevin must’ve seen it coming because he passed the ball right as Stan began flying towards them and flew straight to him. 

 

Stan forced himself to stop before he ran into Kevin straight on, heart pounding in his chest as he did so. Kevin smirked at him when he managed to stop himself a few inches away from Kevin’s face. Kevin chuckled lowly, eyes glinting mischievously. 

 

“You’re not the only one with great strategies, Stan. I was merely a distraction and you fell for it completely. Hope to run into you again!” he finished cheerfully and flew out of Stan’s way, revealing his team’s goal post. He gasped as he saw Tucker shoot into the goal, making it. He could hear Clyde whining from where he hovered and gritted his teeth.

 

Tucker turned back to him and flipped him off, just like how he did back in the train. Growling, Stan flew near the goalposts where Tucker once was and met up with Red, who had the quaffle now.

 

“How do you deal with your asshole cousin? I mean look at him! All he does is flip people off.”

 

“Don’t be a salty bitch, Stan. Just because he’s better than you doesn’t mean he’s an ass.” Red teased, wiggling her eyebrows. Stan frowned and stole the quaffle from her hands, which made her curse out in his direction as he flew away.

 

“I’ll show him. I’m better at quidditch than Tucker.”

 

* * *

 

  
  


The game continued rather steadily, both sides scoring a decent amount of points. Stan scored a couple of points and so did the rest of his team. Both Tweek and Thomas were both undeniably good at flying after they got used to it, though they both sometimes spasmed to a random direction. 

 

“Tweek! Cock! Over here!” Thomas cried as a bludger flew towards him. He tossed the ball to where Tweek swept by, grabbing it at the last second before Thomas ducked, avoiding the bludger. Christophe cursed out as was now forced to fly to the other side of the field to chase after the bludger. 

 

Tweek held onto the quaffle with shaky hands, unable to move from his spot in the air. His head jerked from side to side, yelping as he saw Cartman’s team’s players fly closer. 

 

“Fly Tweek! Fly to the goal!” Scott called out from where he was high up above anyone else, where he kept a lookout for the golden snitch. Tweek shrieked again and did as he was told. With an unsteady path, he began to fly away from the other players towards the end of the field where Leslie blocked the goal. 

 

Tweek’s sudden jerks and spasms turned to be useful when flying away from others, making his route unpredictable to all, especially the beaters. As he made it to the goal post, his broomstick veered off to the right, making Leslie move to the very right goal out of the three. 

 

“Agh!” Tweek screamed out and threw the quaffle into the top goal before Leslie could react. The whole team broke out into a cheer as the ball he threw made it into the goal. Tweek’s eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face. Even players on the other team started clapping for him. 

 

“There it is! The snitch!” a British voice suddenly yelled out, breaking the cheerful mood. Gregory was pointed down at the ground where Stan could make out the faint outline of a shimmering golden ball. 

 

Both seekers immediately dived to the ground, hands reached out. Once of them obtains the snitch, the game was over and the team with the most points win. Stan started becoming jittery on the broomstick, anticipation building up as the two neared the ground.  _ Who is it going to be? Both teams are about the same on points right now. So whoever gets this snitch, their team would win.  _

 

The crowd below started to cheer and Stan knew that the game was over. He just couldn’t tell who had one. A blurry figure came flying up towards him, carrying the snitch in his hand. It was Scott.

 

“Stan! Kyle! Tweek! Guys! Look, I got the snitch! I did it! Can you guys be-”

 

“What in the world do you students think you’re doing! Get down here immediately!” Millions of thoughts rushed through Stan’s head as he heard Madam Hooch’s enraged voice. Head hung down in shame, he and the other players descended down.

 

Madam Hooch stood with Kenny, who was looking surprising well for someone that fell off of his broomstick and broke both their legs yesterday. Kenny looked proud as they approached Madam Hooch, a bright grin on his face. Madam Hooch, on the other hand, looked infuriated. Stan knew he was done for when he saw the way she was staring down at them.

 

“Who started all of this mess?” she asked sternly, as though they were getting interrogated. No one spoke up, everyone too afraid to say anything. “Did you not hear my question? Who started this nonsense?”

 

“Miss, it was Eric. He started harassing Kyle for his religion and family for not being able to fly. In his mad state, Kyle couldn’t make a good decision and went along with his challenge for a quidditch match.” a blonde, curly haired girl piped up. All heads turned to her, but she didn’t budge a single bit. Her facial expression remained confident, even as Madam Hooch looked towards her.

 

“Bebe, are you absolutely sure you’re telling the truth?” she asked softly, satisfied that someone finally answered her question. Bebe nodded briskly and Madam Hooch turned back towards Stan and the other players.

 

“Well, this does not change the fact that I am very disappointed in all of you for disobeying my rules, whether it was for standing up for someone or not. And for that, I’m taking 20 points of every one of you that just participated in that match,” Madam Hooch told them, earning groans of shock and disapproval from the whole class. “However, that doesn’t mean I can’t praise you for standing up for one another. So for that, 20 points to the same people. And 20 more points for Tweek, Thomas, and Kyle for standing up to your fears and flying. Boys, you did a marvelous job up there. You should be proud of yourselves. And Scott, how can we forget about what you did. You caught the snitch in such a short time period. It’s hard enough during a real game to catch it and here you are, catching it within 20 minutes. You too Gregory, for finding and pursuing to go get it. Both of you deserve 30 points.” 

 

The class stared at her, appalled at what just happened. Stan blinked at the teacher, unable to move a single muscle.  _ Are we getting praised for disobeying her now? _

 

Her expression became stern once more and turned to Cartman, who was now cowering in fear. “But you Cartman. You will have three weeks detention, cleaning up the locker rooms after the quidditch players use it with the house elves. You say any degrading terms or phrases at these house elves and I’ll be notified immediately to add more days to your detention, understand?” Cartman scowled and opened his mouth to retaliate, but quickly shut it seeing Madam Hooch’s glare. He grumbled in agreement and sat down angrily.

 

Madam Hooch dismissed the class shortly after, saying that they’ve “had enough fun for the day”. Stan walked up to Kyle, who looked a lot better than he did before. He gave Stan a small wave, reassuring him that he was okay. Stan smiled in relief. Kenny ran up to the two of them, a small frown on his face. 

 

“I can’t believe you guys had this much fun without me! I could’ve been the best beater on the team!” he exclaimed. He even pushed his hood covering his mouth down, indicating how important this was. Stan shrugged back at him. 

 

“You would’ve been on Cartman’s team then,” he said, raising an eyebrow. Kenny’s face turned into an expression of horror and shook his head, taking back his words. Stan laughed, it was nice having Kenny back again, even if he was only gone for a day. A sharp pain went through his head when he tried to think back on the day without Kenny, confusing him. He rubbed his head and tried his best to recall class after Kenny went to the infirmary.  _ Why is everything so blurry? Am I forgetting something? _

 

“Ah, Tweek! There you are! Aren’t you just the talented little fuck! You never told me you can fly that well!” he yelled, tackling him into a bearhug. Tweek yelped, clearly disapproving of his actions, but Kenny didn’t seem to care. “Oh man, if only Butters was here. He would’ve loved to see Cartman get his ass roasted like that.”

 

“Hey Kyle? Don’t you think Tweek should try out for the quidditch team?” Stan asked, watching Tweek argue with Kenny. Kyle stared at the two as well and nodded, grinning. 

 

“I would love to see him kick your ass during the match.”

 

“Are you not going to support your own house Kyle?” Stan gasped, clutching his chest dramatically. Kyle burst into a fit of laughter, clutching his stomach. Stan grinned at the sight, a warm feeling blossoming inside his chest. Things were finally moving the perfect way for Stan.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda a longer chapter than usual! I really hope yall like how this chapter turned out because I honestly had no idea where this was going when I first started writing it.
> 
> Thank you once again for all the kind messages and kudos on the previous chapter! It really motivates me to keep writing these chapters :)
> 
> If you have any suggestions for future chapter ideas, characters/pairings you would like to see, or any questions you have about the story, feel free to comment and I'll do my best to answer/incorporate them!
> 
> Love you all <3
> 
> -egg


	8. Winter Memories

He hated the winter.

His family couldn’t afford warm clothes for their family, meaning he had to go scavenging for any clothes people left behind or threw away. It’s a shame how many people toss perfectly nice clothing just because it had a tear or a hole. He could fix those in no time. But that didn’t change the fact that they didn’t have enough clothes. At least they could survive through the winter with the limited clothing.

His house couldn’t handle the rapidly dropping temperature. Snow would build up on the roof and it’ll collapse within days. He had to fix the roof every time that happened. The strong wind made the walls shake, making anything that was tacked on it fall off. Windows would make awful clattering noises during the night, scaring his sister. The windows sometimes broke during blizzards, filling their small house with unwanted snow.

There was Christmas during winter. 

He hated everything about Christmas. Everyone else in town would spend it with their friends and family, reminiscing old memories, creating new ones. They ate feasts and drank something other than beer, trading presents. They were all warm and happy, unlike his family.

His parents could never afford any of that. They bought cheap beer and frozen waffles. On good days, poptarts. There were no presents waiting for him on Christmas day, but he was fine with it. He didn’t need presents as long as his sister was happy.

But she wasn’t. At least not on Christmas morning. He would always catch her expression dropping when she woke up to find nothing next to her bed. The forced smile on her face when her friends talked about their Christmas. And what did his parents do about it? Nothing. They just stayed at home, drinking and doing drugs, wasting their lives as their children starved. 

He missed her. Every night he’ll remember how she’ll come up to him and ask him for a bedtime story. What was she doing now? Were his parents taking good care of her? Did his brother finally get a stable job for the family?

He wanted to go home for Christmas. He wanted to make sure his sister was okay and eating something. But he didn’t want to leave Hogwarts. For once he wanted to be selfish.

* * *

 

“Professor Garrison? I would like to present a research I’ve done for this class.” Kyle’s ears perked up at the sudden noise in the quiet room. Being the last day of classes before winter break, each professor had been fairly easy on them. Except for Professor Garrison. He insisted on giving them a project. 

“Why Eric, of course you can. If it’s relevant to defense against dark arts, you may,” He replied enthusiastically, thrilled to hear that Cartman was finally doing good in his class. Cartman smiled back sweetly, almost too sweetly, and stood in front of the whole class.

“All students, if I can please have your attention up here. This is a very important speech,” he snapped his fingers as an emphasis, and one by one, students looked up from their work. “Thank you. Now, everyone is aware that break is right ahead of us, yes? You must be excited. You get to see your family again! What a wonderful news. But! Not everything is swell back home. Here you were under the protection of powerful wizards. However, back at home who is there for you? Probably some middle-class wizard. Okay at magic at the most. You muggleborns are going back to a family that’s never heard of magic before. So I’m here to prepare all of you for the dangers out there. More specifically, daywalkers.”

Cartman nodded at someone in the back of the class and a bright light filled the room. Kyle yelped and shielded his eyes, many others doing the same. A high pitched ringing filled the room. Once the light started to die down, he slowly removed his hands, marveled at the sight in front of him. There was a slideshow projected behind Cartman, but the projector itself was nowhere to be seen.

“No way,” Stan gasped and grabbed Kyle’s arm. “That’s a projecting charm. That’s some high-level shit right there.” Cartman had a smug look as he watches everyone whisper amongst each other in awe. Even Professor Garrison was intrigued. The slide behind him read ‘DAYWALKERS’.

“Have any of you heard of a ‘daywalker’ before? No? That’s what I thought. They’re very rare creatures, thought to have died out in the early 1900s. Well, at least until recently.” The slide changed so that it showed an image of what looked like a vampire. 

“You guys all know what a vampire is right? They’re monsters integrated into every culture. Wizards know it, muggles know it. They’re international. Now, why are they so scary? Because they  _ kill.  _ They suck your blood out using their sharp fangs, killing you instantly. Or they turn you into one of them, stripping you of your humanity forever. Every human cowers in fear by just the thought of them. Horrible creatures right?

“But we don’t always have to be afraid. There’s no reason to be. They’re nocturnal! If you live with protection at night, you will never get attacked by one. And that’s why everyone feels safe. But what if I told you that you’re never safe? That whether it be day or night, you will always be in danger? Why? Daywalkers of course.”

Click. The slide changed again. Now it was just a blank slide.

“These daywalkers are just like us and vampires. They’re awake during the day and sleep at night. They can go to school and have stable jobs. Yet they live off of human blood. And that’s why they’re so dangerous. You can’t avoid them. They’re always there with you. Look around. Any of these people could be a daywalker. Your best friend could be one.

“‘But Mr. Cartman! How can we keep ourselves safe then!’ you may ask. Well, I’m about to tell you the characteristics of this ugly creature so be sure to take notes.” Click. “First, they have extremely pale skin. Just like vampires, their skin is weak to sunlight, forcing them to be in shady areas, leading to pale skin.” A picture of a boy with sheet-white skin appeared on the slide.

“Next,” click, a picture of a girl with freckles, “they have freckles. Legends say that each freckle represents a human they killed for their blood. Just thinking about such sick action makes me want to puke.

“And finally, be careful guys this might disgust some of you. They have ginger hair. Yes, you heard me right. Only gingers can be daywalkers. We thought gingers went extinct, but no, they’re alive and they’re killing mercilessly. Now let me show you an example of a daywalker.”

Click. Gasps and shrieks filled the room. Students were springing up from their seats, moving to the back of the class. Blood boiled within Kyle. Cartman put a picture of him on the slide. 

“What the fuck is this supposed to mean, Cartman!? I’m not a daywalker, whatever that fucking thing is! How could I be one? I’m a muggleborn!” He screeched, abruptly getting up from his seat. Cartman back up to the blackboard, fake fear plastered on his face. 

“Oh no, guys! I think we made the daywalker mad! Everybody! Run! Run before he gets more freckles on his face!” Screams erupted from all corners of the room. The door slammed open as students rushed to get out, leaving Professor Garrison and a few students left in the class. 

“Wait! Class!” Professor Garrison cried out, waving his arms frantically. But he was too late. No one could hear him over the yells and falling chairs. 

Kyle’s face paled, his legs giving out. He crumpled to the ground and held his head in his hands, rocking back and forth.  _ What did I do to deserve this? If I was back home, I would’ve deserved this, but I cleaned my act here. I haven’t caused any major problems. I don’t understand why- _

“Kyle! Snap out of it!” Butters shouted, shaking his shoulders. Kyle blinked at his panicked face, his mind blank. His body felt paralyzed, fear overcoming him. He hasn’t felt this way since elementary school. “We all know daywalkers aren’t real. Right fellas?”

Butters’ voice broke at the end as if he was choking back tears. Hearing this forced Kyle back into reality, where he sat on the floor of the class. His friends were staring down at him, making unwanted memories flood back to him. They were towering over him as if they were judging him.  _ They’re not them! They’re not! But- _

Kyle sprang up and took off, ignoring the calls of his friends. He couldn’t handle it anymore, not after everything that happened. His once quiet mind was now racing, new thoughts,  _ bad _ thoughts popping up. His lungs burned, but he couldn’t stop. He had to run away from his thoughts. From the memories. 

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm, stopping him. Kyle didn’t dare to turn back, only wiggling his arm to get away from the person. But the grip only got stronger. He groaned in frustration and stomped his foot, accidentally stepping on the mystery person’s foot. 

“Dude what the fuck!” 

“...Stan?” Kyle slowly turned around, coming face to face with a pair of intense blue eyes. He felt a rush of guilt and anger boiling in his veins. Stan looked upset at him, with the slight frown and disappointed eyes. But that look also fueled anger within Kyle.  _ Why did Stan follow me? Didn’t I make it obvious that I wanted to be alone? _

Without warning, Stan pulled back his arm harder, making Kyle crash into him. He yelped in surprise and raised a hand to ask what he was doing. But his plan was shattered soon after for Stan pulled his arms around Kyle, embracing him.

Kyle’s body froze up once again, unsure of what to do. Sure he’s hugged his family members before, but his friends never hugged him like this. The only hugs he received were short, one armed hugs, and that happened once maybe three times a year on his birthday.

This hug, it was a new feeling. It was heartwarming and comforting, as though his broken pieces were getting mended back together. He felt his arms slowly reach up from its spot at Kyle’s side to hug Stan back. Stan was nuzzling his head in the crook of his neck, an action he thought was weird, yet oddly soothing.

The two stayed like that for a while, lost in their own little world. Stan kept quiet, waiting for Kyle to be ready to talk. He began to feel like himself again, the panicked state he was in dying off. 

“Stan… Why’d you, why did you follow me here?” Kyle whispered out. Stan didn’t answer right away. He kept his head where it was, on Kyle’s shoulder. Giving him one last squeeze, Stan pulled away. His eyes were watery like he was about to start crying or he had finished crying. Kyle couldn't tell.

“Of course I would follow you. I- I couldn’t handle seeing my best friend like that. I wanted to be there for you.” Stan's voice became quieter towards the end of his sentence, his cheeks turning into a peachy pink. Kyle felt his own cheeks heat up.  _ I’m his best friend?  _ “I don’t know how this best friend thing works. You’re the first actual friend I’ve ever had and well, I like being around you. That’s what best friends are right?”

Kyle was taken back. He didn’t know what to say or how to explain his feelings. This was foreign territory for him.  _ He likes me enough to stick with me like that? _

“Wow Stan, I really appreciate you for saying that,” he mumbled, looking down. “The truth is, you were my first friend too and I think you’re my best friend too.” Stan gave him a large grin after hearing that, pulling him into another hug.

“Well best friend, I’m glad to hear that too. I thought this was just a one sided thing. Now, I have a plan to kick Cartman’s ass.” Kyle raised an eyebrow at him. 

“And where exactly are you taking me for this great plan of yours?”

“You’ll find out after classes. For now, to flying we go!”

* * *

“So let me get this straight,” Craig sighed, sinking further into his seat. “You, Marsh, McCormick, and Stotch are asking us for help.”

Kyle sat in the slytherin common room with Stan, Kenny, and Butters, who was visibly shaking, staring at Craig and Clyde. The train for going back for Christmas left shortly after classes ended for the day. Tweek, Scott, Jimmy, Token, and Davíd all went back, promising souvenirs for them. This left the common room empty, making it more convenient for Kyle to go intrude the other house’s common room.

“We’re happy to help kick fatass’s ass in any way!” Clyde yelled, grinning like a madman. “We do owe you one. But I need to ask? Why now? He’s given you a lot of shit, but you never came to us before.”

“Eric started spreading some bad rumors about Kyle,” Butters stated, pouting. His eyes glanced towards Kyle for a moment and started talking again, hesitantly. “Fellas, daywalkers aren’t real right? Everyone’s awfully scared of Kyle now because of them.”

Kenny started choking on the water he was drinking right as Butters said that. He coughed loudly, clutching his stomach. Butters hurried over to his side worriedly. Kyle looked over at Stan as if to ask if he was seeing it too. Stan shook his head in return.  _ From when did they get that close? _

“Daywalkers are myths. Parent wizards used them as a way of making sure kids don’t go running off with strangers on the streets,” Kenny explained once he calmed down. Butters kept a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve never seen or heard of an actual daywalker going around town. I’m surprised that people even believed Cartman.”

Kyle grumbled and shoved his head into the pillow next to him. The whole school was now against him because of a myth that Cartman spread during a fucking presentation. He could never bring his reputation back. It was elementary school all over again.

“Look guys, I know you hate Cartman as much as we do. Please, you have to help us. If we work on it, we could think and execute a plan before break ends!” Stan exclaimed with Clyde nodding in agreement.  _ One person down.  _ Kyle’s gaze shifted to Craig.  _ One more to go. _

Craig wore his usual stoic expression and picked at his fingers, disinterested in the conversation. Stan was grumbling at him in frustration along with Kenny, who was poking his side. 

“If I agree to help you douchebags, will you please leave me alone?” he finally said, shoving Kenny off of his shoulder. Stan immediately called a deal and the two shook hands. Craig turned to Kyle with a raised eyebrow. “Well, Broflovski? Do you have a plan?”

Kyle took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. He came up with a vague plan during class before he came to the slytherin common room. Stan helped solidify the plan after hearing it during lunch. Tweek gave them some pointers before he left. Kenny gave them suggestions, but Kyle turned them down instantly. He wanted to give Cartman boobs. Butters gave Kyle morale boosters when he got stuck. 

“I call this plan ‘Operation Turn Cartman Into a Ginger.’”

* * *

 

The six of them moved from the common room to Clyde, Craig, and Kenny’s dorm, just in case Cartman walked in. Rumor says he’s staying back at Hogwarts for the break. 

The three slytherin’s room looked like a tornado hit it. There were books and paper scattered all over the floor, along with various blankets and shirts. Clyde kicked some of the items on the floor to one side of the room, attempting to create space for them to sit. Craig pushed past him and sat down on a bed that most likely belonged to him and started searching for something. 

Kenny grabbed his pillow from his bed and sat down on the flow, waving for the others to follow. One by one, they sat down in a tight circle, eyeing each other. Craig joined the group and sat in between Clyde and Butters, holding something in his hand. 

“Gee Craig, what’s that?” Butters asked nonchalantly. Craig turned to him, suddenly paying attention to the world around him. He lifted his hands slowly and opened it, revealing a small, furry animal. 

“This is Stripe. He’s my guinea pig. Isn’t he adorable?” Craig scratched Stripe’s small cheek, earning a small noise from the animal. Butters gasped and pushed closer towards Stripe, asking if he could pet him. Craig nodded and Butters began stroking Stripe’s back, cooing as he did so. 

It was a strange sight for Kyle. Craig, who was sarcastic and usually an asshole, was happily talking about his pet rodent with Butters, someone he never hung out with. Stan cleared his throat loudly, earning a middle finger from Craig.

“Anyway, let’s talk about this plan. We turn Cartman into a ginger so he could get a taste of his own medicine. That we can all agree on. But the real question here is how? How are we going to change him into a ginger?” Stan’s question left everyone stumped. The plan itself sounded perfect, but none of them was skilled enough to actually execute it. 

“Freckles should be easy right? We can draw some freckles on his face while he sleeps with a permanent marker or something,” Kenny grinned. It sounded like a great plan, but it had one fatal flaw. A permanent marker wouldn’t look natural.

“I could ask Red,” Craig spoke up, his voice back to its monotonous tone. “She might’ve brought her make up kit with her. Wouldn’t that look more natural than a marker?” Kenny’s face lit up hearing Craig’s addition to his idea. 

“There are some books in the library we could look at for hair color changing,” Butters claimed, scratching his head. “I saw some weird books in the back the last time I went there.” Kyle grinned at Butters, giving him a thumbs up. Cartman was already pretty pale to begin with so there was no change to be made there. All they had to do now was figure out the spell for his hair.

Kyle sighed, brushing himself off as he stood up. They had two weeks to perfect the plan and the faster they got started, the sooner he’ll get his revenge.

The group decided on separating themselves into two groups; looking for a book about changing hair color and asking Red how to draw freckles.

Kyle opted out on going to find Red, deciding that he was still intimidated by her after seeing her reckless flying. He, along with Kenny and Butters, were in charge of getting the book. The boys agreed on having at least one slytherin per group so that they could meet up back in the slytherin dorms once they got what they needed.

“Butters,” Kyle began quietly as they walked out of the slytherin common room. “Why did you decide to help me on this? I mean I see you around with Cartman from time to time. Aren’t you guys friends?” The smile on Butters’ face fell, leaving an empty expression on his face. 

“Well gee, Kyle, I didn’t think you’ll notice. I think Eric’s my friend, but sometimes I feel like he doesn’t feel the same way. He’s always telling me ‘Butters! Hold this book for me. Do my homework for me.’ 

“But then I started talking with Kenny in the infirmary. He wasn’t like Eric. He asked me about my life before Hogwarts, he joked. I felt like I had an actual friend after that. And I know for sure that what Eric’s doing this time is wrong. I need to stand up for myself, right?” Butters glanced over at Kenny, who had the widest smile on his face. 

Kyle felt his heartwarming up. He knew that Kenny was friendly, talking and joking with everyone he met. He’s never heard a single person talk badly about Kenny, besides Cartman. He’s lovable and affectionate to all. And Butters was the exact representation of the outcome of his friendliness. 

The three of them made it to the library in no time, discussing the possible areas these books might be placed. According to Kenny, changing colors, especially for a biotic object like hair, was a complex spell. That meant it was probably in the section for older wizards. 

Kyle marveled as he entered the library. He had never seen so many books in his life. Every wall of the library of filled with books, some looking ancient with the all the dust covering them. Bookshelves upon bookshelves packed with a variety of books were placed so close-knit that it seemed impossible to fit more than three people in between the shelves next to one another. 

“How in the actual fuck are we supposed to find what we need in here?” Kenny groaned, leaning onto one of the bookshelves. Kyle mumbled to agree with him. There was just too many books for the three of them to search. It’ll take weeks, even months to find the slightest information on the topic.

“Fellas, I think it’s my time to shine,” Butters cheered and withdrew his wand. “I read the charms textbook ahead because I lose thing so easily. Some of the older students taught me some spells too.” Kyle frowned at Butters’ comment, taken back by it. He knew for sure that he had better grades than Butters in charms. So then how could Butters be able to conjure spells that were too advanced for their grade?

“Butters, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I advise that you-”

“Accio books on changing hair color!” he cried out. Kyle held back the rest of his sentence, scared of what was about to happen. However, nothing happened. The three boys were still standing in the middle of the library with no books to help them.

“Hey, Leo uh,” Kenny started, softly nudging Butters’ shoulder. “I know you tried your best, but it might be better of we looked for it manually.” Butters’ shoulders dropped as he reluctantly nodded and put his wand away. Kyle bit his lip. He read through the first year charms textbook and it never spoke of a spell called ‘accio’. What Butters attempted to do must’ve been one powerful charm, whether he completed it or not. 

Suddenly, a low rumble filled the once quiet library. Kyle looked around the room, confused. There was no one in there except for them and the librarian.  _ But then what could possibly be making that noise? _

Butters lifted his head up, excited, and pointed towards the bookshelves in the back of the library. “Fellas! Fellas! Look! It worked! The summoning charm worked!”

Kyle couldn’t believe his eyes. A variety of books started flying in their direction, all stacking themselves neatly at Butters’ feet. There were about 10 of them in total. The books all had some dust on them, with writing that certainly did not look like English. He squinted his eyes trying to decipher the chicken scratch writing.

Butters bounced up and down, hooting quietly. His eyes glowed with joy as he pranced around the books, Kenny clapping him on. Kyle smiled softly. He and Stan couldn’t always be there for Kenny when he got injured, which was close to once a week. They had their own homework to do and honestly, it got tiring sometimes to continuously visit Kenny. But he now had Butters, who didn’t treat Kenny like he was just another patient. He treated him like a friend, the way Kenny treated everyone around him. 

The three hurried their way over to the librarian, eager to show their findings to the rest of the group, once they had calmed down. The librarian gave them a wearily look, not paying attention to any of the books she was checking out. Which felt strange for Kyle because he swore the books flew from the restricted section of the library. But that didn’t matter right now. 

“Dude, Craig’s going to shit his pants once he sees these babies,” Kenny laughed, stroking the spine of one of the books. “He said we’ll never find the books. Just wait till he sees that we found not only one, but ten books!” 

Kyle grinned, the thought of proving Craig wrong lingering in his mind. 

* * *

 

Though Kyle didn’t get the reaction he wanted from Craig, the three remaining boys were quite surprised by their findings. They were the most impressed by Butters, who single-handedly used a spell taught in 4th year. 

“Well Kyle, I hope this plan of yours is going to work. Because if it doesn’t, that means I got kicked in the balls by Red for no fucking reason,” Clyde complained. Stan explained to him that getting makeup tools and tips from Red was no problem, but then Clyde starting yapping about how she can’t go home for Christmas, which led to him getting kicked by her. 

“You deserved it for being an asshole to her. She never liked you,” Craig mused from his bed, petting Stripe. This caused Clyde’s eyes to start watering up and tackling Craig off of the bed, whining at Craig to stop being a dick to him. Kyle and Stan stared at the two with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

“They’re always like this don’t worry. Let’s just get to reading,” Kenny said, shrugging. 

As easy as it seemed, reading the books Butters found was almost impossible. Most of the writing inside the book was in the foreign language Kyle saw on the front cover. Even if it was written in English, the spells were too complicated for him to even say out loud. 

“This is fucking hopeless,” Stan wailed as he slammed a book shut in frustration, much like everyone else. There were books thrown all over the room, discouraged from the lack of understanding. 

The only person in the room that seemed to be less frustrated than others was Craig, which amazed Kyle until he saw that he was reading a completely different book. Clyde was looking over his shoulder, eyebrows furrowing. 

“Craig, you said you’ll help and what you’re doing right now isn’t helping,” Kyle spat, irritation building up from the foreign books. Craig didn’t reply and kept reading, flipping through the pages. Kyle’s frown deepened, offended by his behavior. He hastily pushed himself up, ready to rip the book out of his hands, but got interrupted by Craig giving him a nasty glare.

“The book fucking says you need lilac flowers, dragon blood, the hair color you want, and the hair of the person you want to change colors,” Craig glowered, eyes dangerously dark. He tossed the book he was reading towards the floor, flipping open to a random page. Kyle peered into the book, only to find the foreign language with the English translations next to them. “I’m going to go steal those shit so I can get this fucking thing over with.”

And with that Craig walked out, leaving Kyle and the others dumbfounded. Clyde shook his head sheepishly and turned to them. In the soft lighting of the dorm room, he looked several years older, tiredness etched on his face.

“I’m sorry about Craig. He’s uh,” Clyde picked at his sleeves nervously, “not proud of the fact that he can read that language. It’s urm dark magic shit. Runs in his family.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop once he had finished his sentence. Silence spread between the boys and they sneaked glances to one another. The thick tension that formed due to the frustration now replaced with confusion and sadness. Kyle could see Clyde’s eyes beginning to water, but not like the way it usually does when a teasing upsets him. He looked almost ashamed for revealing something about Craig when he wasn’t here.

“I want to kick Cartman’s ass so badly. Of course, helping you guys is a big reason, but fatass also knows inside information about Craig and-”

“Hey, we got the info we need, right? Now, all we gotta do is figure out the steps for making the potion and bam! We give it to fatass and get our revenge. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Clyde. We’ll make sure fatass pays!” Kenny yelled, swinging an arm on Clyde’s shoulder. Stan grinned at him and did the same, standing on his other side. Butters gave him a hug from the front, burying his face in his shoulder. Kyle ruffled Clyde’s hair, smiling warmly at him as he did so. 

Clyde began to weep softly, holding onto the four boys surrounding him tightly. They didn’t notice the amount of time they spent on the ground, bundled together, until Craig returned, holding a bag full of ingredients. 

He gave them a strange look, confused to what was happening until he saw Clyde crying. He sighed quietly and put the bag down, making his way to Clyde. One by one, Kyle and the others let go of him, allowing Craig to hug his friend. He pulled Clyde into a tight embrace, rubbing his back as he did so.

For the first time, Kyle saw him as another human being, not some asshole that flips off everyone. He saw two childhood friends, who've seen each other at their worst and still stuck by, comforting each other.

* * *

 

He hated the winter. 

It got too cold for his cheap clothes to keep him warm. He spent most winters shivering, half dying from starvation and the cold. He never had a house that can handle the harsh weathers. It was no surprise to see fresh snow inside his room when he woke up. 

But this year, it was different.

He had warm clothes, layers that would keep him warm even on the snowiest days. He could walk out in the snow and still feel warm. He even had scarves and vests, which he planned on bringing home for his sister once school ended. He had a new home, somewhere that he knew he would be safe. The home had four walls and a roof that didn’t break every once in a while. He could eat until his stomach felt like it was going to burst, a feeling he never got to enjoy back at home. 

Most importantly, he had friends. He had people caring about him, just as much as he cared for them. He had people who wanted to be friends with him despite knowing how little he had.

For the first time, he wasn’t so lonely for Christmas. He had friends to eat feasts with, to share dumb secrets and stories with till late at night. He was experiencing the dream Christmas he always wanted. 

“Gee Ken, You’ve been sitting there all quiet for a while. Is everything alright?” Kenny’s ears perked up at the cheerful voice. He turned towards the owner of the voice, blinking away the tears. The smile on the owner’s face was contagious, making him smile as well. 

“Just thinking about my sister, ya know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter!!
> 
> Sorry this chapter took so long for an update. I had a writer's block and honestly had no idea where it was heading, but hey it turned out okay!
> 
> A lot of people wanted to see more bunny and I tried including that more into this chapter! Dw there will be more bunny in the future chapters!
> 
> Also!!! Thank you all for the positive comments and kudos on the previous chapter! It was very heartwarming :))
> 
> The question of the day is, would you like to see chapters in Kenny's POV in the future? It's been on my mind for a while and I wanted to ask for your opinion!
> 
> Comments about the story, including any questions you have and any character interactions/ships you wanna see, are always welcome! I love reading all of the comments, they really encourage me to write more!
> 
> Stay awesome guys! Love yall!!
> 
> -egg


	9. Ginger Attack

Tweek couldn’t be happier than he was now to be returning to Hogwarts. The two weeks he spent back with his parents had been a wreck. They insisted that he worked at the coffee shop even more than before, claiming that he ‘make up the work he missed’. 

That also meant he was back to being that weird kid that never went to school again. People gave him strange looks as they walked into the store, seeing the obviously underage boy working the cashier. He didn’t have friends to talk with or even see. Everyone else on the train back to Hogwarts spoke sadly, already missing their friends and family. But Tweek was the complete opposite. 

“-and then my Abuela fucking insisted that I bring back a girl the next time I see her! Is she fucking serious?! I just want to hang out with my friends,” Davíd complained, sinking further into his seat. Jimmy put a hand on his shoulder and told him that he could give him pointers on ‘seducing a girl’. Davíd politely ignored him. 

Tweek felt a smile forming on his face watching his friends interact. It felt like ages since he had last seen them and he missed them every second of the break. Scott nudged him on the shoulder, a crooked smile on his face. 

“I missed them too man. Muggle world really sucks once you get used to magic,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Tweek rolled his eyes at the hufflepuff, nudging him back. He remembered how Scott told him on the first day of Hogwarts that he didn’t have friends back in the muggle world either. 

He felt his heart filling up with warmth as he thought about his situation right now compared to before. Both he and Scott now had friends, people that defended them for their quirks. It was a change, a change that Tweek loved.

 

* * *

 

By the time the train arrived at Hogwarts, the homesickness got replaced with excitement for the second semester. Tweek practically bounded out of the train, wanting to see his other friends as soon as possible.

They were immediately sent to the dining hall where the professors required them to sit in their respective houses. “You can sit with your friends any other day,” Professor McGonagall scolded as she ushered students to their table, “This is the first day of the semester. Don’t make me take points off already.”

Tweek walked towards the hufflepuff table with Scott, looking around the dining hall as he did so. There weren’t any major changes that happened to anyone as far as Tweek saw.  _ How could there be? It’s only two weeks. _

“Tweek! Scott! Over here!” his face broke into a smile when he heard his roommates call out to them. Butters and Pip were sitting near the end of the table, saving spots for the two of them. 

Tweek slid next to Pip while Scott and Butters sat across from them. He finally felt like he was at home once more, eating dinner with his friends. The four discussed what they did over break as they waited for Headmaster Dumbledore’s speech.

“I made a new friend!” Pip said, enthusiastically. “You see, he was one of the new people that stayed here over break. He helped me with potions! Ah, look! There he is now!” Tweek followed Pip’s pointed finger to the slytherin table where a raven-haired boy sat, facing away from them. Tweek recognized Kenny and Craig sitting across from the boy and he guessed that the brunette next to the boy was Clyde.  _ Then who is- _

“You’re friends with Damien?! Like the ‘son of the devil’ Damien?!” Scott cried out, eyes wide. Hearing his name, Damien turned around towards the hufflepuff table, his red eyes glaring at them. Tweek yelped and felt his body freeze up.  _ Agh! He’s glaring at us! He’s goingtokillus! _

Pip happily waved to him, ignoring the glares Damien was sending him. It was certain that Damien was ignoring him, but Pip didn’t seem to care. He kept smiling and waving. Eventually, Damien gave up and waved back, making Pip squeak and turned back to the group. “See I told you. We’re friends!”

“Oh boy Pip! I didn’t know you were making friends while I was helping Ken turn Eric into a ginger,” Butters nonchalantly stated as he sipped his drink. The smile on Pip’s face dropped, immediately getting replaced by disbelief. Scott’s mouth hung open and Tweek shrieked. 

“You did what?! Are you fucking crazy!” Tweek yelled out, grabbing his hair, “I thought the whole ‘daywalker’ fiasco wasbadenough. And now  _ he’s  _ the ginger?! This is toomuchpressure!” He slammed his head into the table, making the boy next to him flinch, and looked over at Pip. He looked just as surprised as Tweek and Scott, meaning he knew nothing about this. 

“Fellas! Fellas! It wasn’t just me. I could never do that. I’m not good at magic. Like I said, I worked with Ken,” Scott blinked at Butters, dumbfounded.

“You mean Ken as in…”

“Kenny! Who else could it be? He was telling me about the awful stuff Eric did before, but what he did to Kyle crossed a line,” he huffed out, crossing his arms. 

As if on cue, a familiar, bellowing voice rang through the hall.

“No! Let go of me! You can’t do this! You’re disrespecting me authority!”

“Cartman, I am a professor at this school. You have no ‘authority’ over me.”

Tweek gasped out, unable to believe his eyes. The voice he heard was distinctively Cartman. But the person that walked in was nowhere close to how he remembered Cartman looked. 

The boy that came in late with Professor McGonagall was fat, much like Cartman, but the similarities ended there. He had bright red hair that could be seen from miles away. His face and arms were covered in tiny, brown freckles. Butters was right. He did turn Cartman into a ginger.

“It's a daywalker!”

And just like that, chaos erupted in the once peaceful dining hall. Students screamed and pushed as they tried to leave the dining hall. Plates were getting smashed into pieces on the ground. 

“Tweek! Over here!” Tweek sighed in relief hearing Stan’s voice and ran to him. Stan stood at the corner of the hall with Kyle, Jimmy, Davíd, Butters, Kenny, Clyde, and Craig. He was glad to see his friends again, but it was obvious that they were not in the mood for hugs. Tension thick enough to cut was evident between the boys.

“Kyle, I’m going to ask you one more time. Why did you give Cartman the potion today?! We were supposed to make him drink it tomorrow!” Clyde yelled out, stomping his foot. Kyle glared back at him, fuming.

“We did not settle on that, dumbass! You’re the one that said ‘the sooner we do this, the better’! And I saw a chance today when there were fewer people! So I got Kenny to sneak the potion into Cartman’s drink during lunch. What’s the problem with that!”

“The problem is, Broflovski,” Craig grumbled, “now that all hell's broke loose, the professors are going to start wondering what the fuck is going on!”

“I agree with the slytherins here. Look, Kyle, I know you want revenge, but the first fucking day we get back? Now the professors are going to start a manhunt to find who caused this chaos to happen in the first place. And that person is you!” Davíd hollered, jabbing a finger at Kyle.

Stan stepped forward, standing in front of Kyle.”Davíd, you weren’t here. You can’t say shit about what’s happening. Kyle’s right. We didn’t agree on a day to do this. What we agreed on was executing the plan as soon as possible. Kyle saw a chance and he took it. What’s the problem there?”

“Th-the problem here is that we’re all f-fa-fucked. The professors knows be-better than anyone else that fatass caused p-problems and that students would want revenge. Don’t bl-blame Kyle. If anything, Kenny should’ve stopped him,” Jimmy calmly stated. 

“Me?!” Kenny’s voice came through as a muffle. He pulled down the hood in front of his mouth angrily. “What do you mean I’m the one to blame?! I just did what I was told to do! No one updated me on how the plan was coming along! I thought you all agreed on today!”

“Fellas, please!” Butters begged. “Ken didn’t do anything wrong! No one did! It’s all just a misunderstanding. Ken just did what he was told because he couldn’t go to the meetings and-”

“And couldn’t he go to the meetings, Butters?” Clyde snarled. “Were you two too busy butt fucking each other to go? Because whenever McCormick was gone, you didn’t come either.” 

“Can all of you shut the fuck up!” Tweek finally managed to yell out. His eye twitched like a mad man as he glared at the arguing boys. They all seemed taken back by his sudden outburst. “All of you are, ngh, being fuckingunreasonable! There’s already too much screaming in this room and noneofyou are helping it!

“You can’tblame Kyle because he’s the only person in this fuckinggroup that’s gettingaffected by this bullshit! Agh! He’s the one gettingcallednames and harrassedfor simply being a redhead. Of course he’s fucking tired of everything that’s beenhappening! So when Clyde told him to execute the plan ‘soon as possible’, hetook the nearest chance. 

“But that doesn’t mean blamethegroup for not making better plans. Coming upwiththis elaborate of a plan and completing it thisfar is impressive. There’sobviously, ack, going to be some minor errors. It just happened to benotfiguring out the day.

“And Kenny just wanted to be a goodfuckingfriend. Hnng, he sawhowmuch Kyle was struggling and wanted tohelpin anyway he can. He didn’t even know the final decision youguysmade  _ without him.  _ It’s a fucking group effort man! Make the fucking big decisionwhen everyone’s there! No wonder he missed the meetings! Hanging out withButters, who actually cared abouthim, is better than beingin a meeting with a bunch of selfish assholes!”

Tweek was out of breath by the time he finished. He even felt a little light headed. The adrenaline he felt while yelling slowly started disappearing, replaced by the guilt that he just yelled at his friends, even though he wasn’t there to witness anything that happened.

He felt his face starting to heat up, shame overcoming him. Tweek let out a loud shriek.  _ Oh no, whatdid I justdo. Theyhateme. They must hate me. I was so madabout something I didn’t takepartin. I’m the selfish one here.  _ His tics and twitching that calmed down as he spoke came flooding back to him, worse than ever. He dug his shaking hands into his hair and pulled, hoping that the pain would distract him. It didn’t. His legs gave out and Tweek fell on the floor. He sat on the icy cold floor, making himself as small as possible, rocking back and forth.

“Tweek…” His name hung heavily in the air. He knew that they wanted to tell him something. Something bad for sure. 

“Hey,” Tweek looked up, expecting angry faces glaring down at him. But there were none. Instead, he found a certain blue hatted slytherin reaching down to him. Confused, he grabbed Craig’s outstretched hand, only to be yanked up. Tweek let out noises of discomfort along with his friends that told Craig to be more gentle. Craig, of course, ignored both opinions. 

He dusted his legs off with his still twitching hands, looking over at Craig once he was done. He then realized that this was his first encounter with Craig since he had a panic attack. Tweek’s face burned up thinking about how that ended. 

“You’re right, did you know that,” Craig began, messing with the strings on his hat. “We’re all selfish assholes. Thanks for making us realize that.” Craig put a hand on Tweek’s shoulder as a sign of reassurance. His hand was warm, just like before when he held Tweek’s hand. He felt the warmth of Craig’s hand spread through his shoulders and his body. He almost missed the warmth when Craig withdrew his hand and walked away from the group with Jimmy and Clyde. 

Now it was Tweek’s turn to be astonished. This was the second time the nourinette was nice to him, an action that Craig never did. He would’ve been in the state of confusion forever if it weren’t for Kenny grabbing his arm. 

“As much as I hate agreeing with that douchebag, he’s right. You got us all good,” he thanked, smiling at Tweek. His lavender eyes twinkled at Tweek, making him smile back. The rest of the group huddled around him, giving him similar remarks. 

By the time the boys finished their sentimental moment, the dining hall was mostly empty. Most of the students fled to their dorms with professors chasing after them. Seeing how dinner is cancelled, Tweek left the hall with Butters and made their way to the hufflepuff common room.

* * *

 

The common room wasn’t in any better shape than the dining hall. There were crying students, scared of what will happen to them if they encountered a ‘daywalker’. Some of the older students were comforting the younger ones, hugging them until the tears stopped. Tweek noticed one of the students being comforted as Thomas, who was crying out profanities as a 6th year tried to calm him down. 

“Gee, what happened to them?” Butters whispered to him. Tweek looked over to where Butters was staring, gasping when he saw what Butters was talking about. In the very corner of the common room were several kids, all hiding in the darkness as if they were scared of something. Tweek squinted his eyes, trying to see how they looked like. 

“They’re redheads,” he whispered back, gritting his teeth. “Ngh, they can’t come out from there because they’rescared of what’ll happenifothers saw.” Butters let out a small whimper and made a mad dash to their dorm. Sighing, Tweek followed him, not sure how to comfort the blond.

Scott and Pip were on the floor, talking in a hushed voice when Tweek and Butters bursted in. The two fell silent at the sight of the sudden intruders, but quickly relaxed when they noticed it was their roommates. 

“I can’t believe it. Those students can’t go back to their rooms,” Butters sobbed out, falling face first into his bed. Tweek explained the situation to Scott and Pip, who nodded back grimly. He knew that the people in his house were usually all inclusive and nice. But the pure terror that Cartman forged into their minds weren’t disappearing anytime soon. 

Butters fell asleep shortly after falling into his bed and Scott followed him. “I really don’t want to deal with this shit,” he said, climbing into bed. “Maybe if I sleep everything would be back to normal tomorrow.”

That left Tweek and Pip sitting on the floor in awkward silence. Unlike Scott or Butters, he spent most of his time with people outside his house. He didn’t have any classes with Pip either, making it harder for him to start a conversation. 

Pip didn’t seem to acknowledge the weird tension in the room. He began humming quietly to himself as he stared out the window, smiling. Tweek thought this was odd. No one said anything, but there he was, grinning at himself.

“So,” Tweek began, trying to hide the quiver in his voice. “How didyouand, hng, Damien becomefriends? I mean youguysseem like polaroppositesand-”

Pip suddenly laughed, scaring Tweek. Tweek looked at him with wide eyes as he smiled at him, again. “There’s nothing to be nervous about, Tweek. We’re all friends here. Of course I’ll tell you,” he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Tweek grabbed his pillow and coffee from his bed, sensing that this was going to be a long story.

“It all began the first night of break. It was a quiet night and I was spending it in the library…”

 

Pip never really saw himself as stupid. Sure there were things he didn’t understand here and there, but overall, he was average. And that was good enough for him. Well, that was until he got into potions class.

No matter how many hours Pip spent staring at his textbook, no matter how hard he listened to Professor Snape talk, he just didn’t understand. So when his parents sent him a letter saying that they could not have him over for Christmas, he swore that he’ll use his break to study.

And so there he was, sneaking into the library at one in the morning. Pip knew he messed up. He should’ve went to the library sooner. If he went earlier, he wouldn’t have to be breaking school rules as he snuck around professors and went to the library. But he can’t change the past or break the promise he made himself. And what’s the next best thing? Sneaking in and studying.

By the time he made it to the library, Pip was breathless. It felt like he was running for hours when in reality it's only been fifteen minutes. But that didn’t matter to him right now. Making to the library was one thing. The real problem now as opening the library door. He pulled out his wand and advanced towards it, ready to cast a spell.

Then he noticed light shining from underneath the doors.  _ That’s strange. The lights should be off right now. Unless…  _ Pip slowly retracted his wand and pushed the doors. They opened with a low groan, making him flinch and slide into the room. He quickly closed the doors before more light escape from the lit up library. 

Pip’s eyes searched the room cautiously. The library looked the way it always does in the afternoons. No one had destroyed the books or the tables.  _ But then why would anyone be here at this time? _

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Pip asked softly into the air.  _ What am I thinking. If anyone were to be here why would they reply? _ He dug his hands into his robe pocket and made his way to the bookshelves to search for any books on potions. And that’s when he met him.

The slytherin was sitting in the center of the library where there was empty space. He had his back turned towards Pip, making it harder for him to identify who he is. The slytherin scarf he wore made the house placement distinct, but nothing else. Curious, he crept up to the slytherin, wondering what he was up to at such a late time.

Before he made it any closer, the boy stood up and turned to Pip, glaring. He felt himself freeze up under the boy’s intense red eyes. The boy kept walking closer and closer, the anger on his face not disappearing. 

“What the fuck do you want and why the fuck are you here,” the boy wasn’t asking questions. No, he was demanding an answer. Pip swallowed a lump in his throat, not finding the courage to speak up. He felt weak under the boy’s eyes. Not wanting to look at his face for any longer, he let his gaze fall to the floor. 

There was a small cauldron on the floor with a reddish fluid inside. It bubbled every now and then, creating small puffs of smoke as the bubbles burst. There was a spell book on the side written in a language Pip could not read. Suddenly, an idea popped inside his mind. He grabbed the boy’s hands and pulled them up to his face. His hands were icy hold, as though he was cold blooded.

“You must be good at potions! Please, you have to help me. I’m failing potions miserably right now and I would love to get help from someone like you!” the boy raised an eyebrow at Pip’s statement. He shook off Pip’s hands and walked back towards his cauldron, not saying a word.

Pip felt his heart sink. He had worked up the courage to talk to this mystery figure and he got rejected within seconds. Sighing, he made his way back to the bookshelves. 

“Urgh, wait!” the boy called back for him. “Look blondie. I don’t know why you’re asking  _ me  _ of all people for help. Aren’t you scared of me? Haven’t you heard the rumors?” Pip shook his head vigorously at his question. He didn’t even know who the boy was! How could be have bad impressions of him?

The boy stared at him with wide eyes. That was the first emotion Pip saw out of him, surprise and disbelief. The boy held his head for a few seconds and looked up, his eyes less intense than before. “I’ll help you with your potions. But it comes with a few guidelines that you can’t ever break.

“First, we can only meet at night. In this library. I don’t care if the fucking professors are after you. We can only meet here and past midnight. 

“Second, you don’t change how you think about me. Whatever you think of me right now, keep that. Even if your friends start feeding you some bullshit rumor they made up. Just don’t listen to them.”

The boy looked like he was about to start saying a third point when Pip noticed something. A black shape on the side of his cheek, near his ear. “What’s that?” It was an innocent question that Pip saw no harm in. 

“Third,” the boy grunted through gritted teeth. “You never, ever fucking talk about what you asked. Got it? Break any of these rules and we’re done for.” Pip didn’t understand why the boy was became aggressive after hearing the question, but nodded his head anyway, desperate for help. 

“Glad we can agree on these terms. The name’s Damien by the way.”

  
  


“And that is how I became friends with Damien,” Pip finished, leaving Tweek astonished. To him, their ‘friendship’ sounded forced and built on many secrets. It was merely a relationship formed because Damien didn’t want Pip to spread rumors about how he was working on a potion at the library past midnight.

“Ngh, that’s amazing, Pip. You always were great at makingfriends,” Tweek forced himself to say. Pip grinned back and declared that he wanted to sleep, leaving Tweek the only one awake once again.

He climbed into his bed, sitting where his pillow should’ve been and leaned on the bed frame. He took another sip of coffee and grabbed the herbology book.

* * *

 

What surprised Tweek the most was how long the spell on Cartman was lasting and how none of the teachers had caught the students behind the elaborate prank. A week has passed since school had started and Cartman’s hair was still the same bright red color. 

“Was the spell supposed to last this long?” Kyle inquired one lunch, staring at the now ginger slytherin. He sat with other gingers, whispering amongst each other. Tweek felt himself twitch. The fact that Cartman was becoming friendly with the gingers, whom he was making degrading comments about earlier, gave the feel that he was plotting something.

“Don’t ask me, dude,” Stan replied, picking at his pizza. “I suck ass at potions. Go find Kenny or Tucker or Clyde. Didn’t they work on it?” 

“You’re talking about me?” Kenny muffled from behind Tweek. He flinched and glared at the hooded boy that snuck up behind him. Kenny winked at him as he wedged himself into the small space on the table, followed by Butters.

“See Ken? I told you you’re good at potions! The spell hasn’t worn off yet!” Butters cried out in a relatively loud whisper. Tweek saw Kenny’s eyes crinkle, which meant that he was smiling underneath the hood. Tweek still didn’t understand how the two got so close. They’re complete opposites yet they made each other smile. 

“But the problem is that it hasn’t worn off yet,” Davíd pointed out while shoving another forkful of salad in his mouth. “The longer it lasts, the angrier Cartman’s going to get. He’s already talking with the other gingers.”

Suddenly, someone slammed the table next to Kyle, making him flinch. Tweek immediately looked down at his food, not wanting to make eye contact with the intruder. 

“Are you fuckers the ones who are responsible for this bullshit?” It was Red. Tweek slowly looked up, but regretted that decision instantaneously. Red was enraged. Her cold eyes were glaring down at everyone, changing the mood of the group.

“Red, why would you ever think we woul-”

“Because you fucking hate Cartman the most, Broflovski,” she interrupted. “Look what you did to him, fucking great. He deserved the hate. I don’t know how many times I threatened people because of the whole ‘daywalker’ shit. But now? Fatass is plotting against all of us and it’s your fault. He’s gathering all the gingers in this school. He fucking asked me if  I wanted to help him! If he does another scheme, I fucking swear I will-”

“Red, are you threatening more students?” a warm voice stopped Red mid sentence. She turned to the owner of the voice and the scowl on her face lessened. It was Kevin Stoley from ravenclaw. “Sorry guys, Red can get emotional and take it out on others.”

Her face turned pink at Kevin’s comment. She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the group, glaring at Kyle the whole way. The two settled at the ravenclaw table where Red still looked mad.

“Well do you believe her?” Stan asked, breaking the silence that formed when Red left. No one in the group had the effort to answer his question, still shocked from what happened. All 

Tweek could do was hope that she was wrong.

* * *

 

“Hnng, how didthis happen…” Tweek grumbled to no one in particular. He was currently locked in a classroom, unable to get out, with the one and only Craig Tucker. “Red was right. Cartman wasplanning something.”

Craig sat stood at the door, mumbling spells as he tried to open the door. But none of it seemed to be working. Tweek shrieked. They had no hope. They were going to be stuck in the small room until they starved and died.

Tweek wasn’t sure how this all happened. One moment, he was leaving astronomy with his friends. Then someone came up to him and told him that Professor Sprout wanted to talk to him in the room he was locked in. It sounded sketchy, but Tweek went anyway. 

He groaned and slid onto the floor. Craig away from the door to Tweek, the blank look on his face still present. “Can you stop groaning. You’re making it sound like we’re fucking in here. Doesn’t help that the door’s locked shut”

His blunt comment made Tweek sputter out incoherent words as heat rose up to his cheeks. Craig gave him an amused look and turned his attention back to the door. Tweek didn’t understand what Craig was trying to do. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to either.

“-an you hear me? Is this fucking thing even working, Le-” a voice suddenly rang through the room. Tweek cried out, eyes scanning the room for the owner of the voice. His mind became filled with confusion.

“Agh! What the fuck is happening!” he yelled, grabbing his hair. 

Then, a large zapping noise came from the corner of the room. Tweek yelled again and Craig glared at him, as if to say  _ shut up.  _ But he couldn’t help it. The noise had startled him. He turned to the corner of the room where he heard the zapping noise, only to find Cartman’s sneering face staring at him. 

“What the fuck man!” Tweek screamed, crashing into the professor’s podium that was behind him. Cartman’s expression remained the same, mocking and all knowing.

“Is that a fucking projecting charm,” Craig murmured, clearly upset over what he was seeing. Tweek blinked at the so called ‘projection’. Indeed, Cartman wasn’t actually in the room. His face was getting illuminated into it by someone.

“Well, well, well. Ladies and gentlemen. I know you’ve all heard about the ‘daywalker’ rumors here and there. And yes I am a ginger myself, a daywalker too if you want to know so badly. But I am here today to prove that you should never mess with us gingers ever again, or else,” Cartman walked away from the projection, revealing the sight behind him. 

“Here we have the filthy jew. He is a ginger yes, as you can tell from his disgusting ginger afro. But he is also a jew, making him an enemy of us gingers. Today, we shall sacrifice him to the great ginger god to prove that it is us gingers that take over the world!” 

Kyle stood behind Cartman, held up by two other ginger students. He looked unconscious. Anxiety started building up within Tweek.  _ Oh no, they’re going to kill him! They’regoing to killKyle! _ He watched as Cartman rubbed his hands together and started rambling on and on about their plan once Kyle was gone. 

“Why aren’t there, ack, any professorsstoppingthem!” Tweek gasped out. Craig didn’t reply.  _ Great. I gettowatch my friend get sacrificed withthis monotonous asshole.  _

“There’s no need for teachers,” Craig finally said, staring at the projection. Cartman was advancing towards Kyle. Tweek didn’t see why he was so calm. Wasn’t Kyle his friend too? Didn’t they work together to make the potion in the first place?

“Agh! You’resuch a fuckingasshole! Our friend mightget sacrificed and you’rehere just nonchalantlytalking thisbullshit!” 

“I made the potion, dumbass. I know how the spell to reverse it. As long as I can keep my attention on fatass, it’s no problem,” and with that Craig began digging through his bag. Tweek stared at him with wide eyes.  _ What was he trying to do? _

After a few moments of searching, he took out a thick, dusty book. It had strange writing on it that Tweek had never seen before. He watched as Craig flipped through the pages, cursing because he couldn’t find the right page.

By the time he finally got to the page he wanted, Cartman was standing in front of Kyle. Tweek nervously bit down on his lips, wincing as he tasted the metallic taste of blood.

Craig silent stood up, eyes fixated on the page. He began to say something that was on the page, something that wasn’t english. Tweek noticed a difference in the way he talked. His usual nasally voice was clearer, making it easier for Tweek to understand him. The words on the page seemed to be glowing.

Tweek held back a gasp, not wanting to interrupt, when he saw that Cartman’s hair was becoming brunette once more. Chaos filled the room he and Kyle were in. The ginger kids began screaming as their ‘leader’ transformed into his usual self. Kyle jolted awake from the noise and started squirming out of the grasps of the boys that were holding him.

All he could hear were screams as Kyle pounced on Cartman, beating him up. Craig sighed and closed the book he was reading off of, putting it back in his bag. Tweek look towards him, admiration evident. 

“How… what even wasthat?” he managed out. Craig didn’t make eye contact with him as he walked closer to him. He almost looked sad with his head hung low. 

“I’ll tell you if you promise you will never ever fucking bring this up.”

“Deal.”

“Dark magic, Tweek. Runs in my family.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to update this as soon as possible to make up for the late update of the last chapter.
> 
> I really got inspired by comments asking for Damien and Pip's relationship and about Tweek and Craig!
> 
> Also! This story hit 200 kudos! Thank you all so much for the love and support you've been giving me since I first posted! It really drives me to write more content :)
> 
> Thank you guys for all the positive comments on the previous chapter! I wasn't sure if I was happy with it, but it made me really happy to see how much you guys liked it! 
> 
> As usual, if you have any questions or feedback about the story or if you have any characters, pairings, interactions, or episode references you would like to see in the future, please leave a comment! I'm always excited to see them :)
> 
> The questions of the chapter are one, what is Damien working on and hiding from Pip, two, how will Tweek react about Craig's lineage.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :))
> 
> -egg


	10. To Hell and Back

47 times. Kenny had died 47 times already in the half a school year he spent at Hogwarts. And as usual, no one remembered. Why would they, that was his curse. 

At first, Hogwarts was the place of his dreams. It sounded like a shitty boarding school when his mom brought it up, a way for his parents to get rid of him from the house so they could have less money to spend. But the moment he stepped foot on the train to Hogwarts, he knew it was nothing like that. 

He got his own living space, even if it meant sharing it with three other people. He had a bed that wasn’t broken or infested with bedbugs. He had warm blankets that kept his frozen toes warm on the coldest days. He had a roof and walls around him that were secure.

And best of all, Hogwarts came with food. Free food, three times a day. The poptarts and frozen waffles were nothing compared to what Hogwarts had. Kenny was slowly gaining weight so he no longer looked like a twig. 

Everything was heavenly. And for that, Kenny could forget the fact that he kept dying and coming back to life. How painful it was each time to see his friends crowd his decaying body, crying and screaming. How he feels every pain in his body as it slowly shuts down. 

Kenny saw it as a deal he made with the school. He got to live a life he’ll never experience back at home. And in return, he died more than usual.

* * *

“Kenny!” Stan yelled from the main floor. “What are you doing up there! Hurry up, lunch is starting!” Kenny smiled at himself, elated to see his friends again, not that there was a difference to them.

Kenny died 2 days ago. A freak accident due to a strong gust of wind that knocked him off a broomstick. He fell 150 feet, cracked his spine, and died a few moments later. That was the real story. But the story his friends remembered was less grotesque.

All they remembered was a weak wind that knocked Kenny off his boomstick from 9 feet in the air. In the process, Kenny broke an arm and got sent to the infirmary immediately. Because mending bones were easy, he was out and about by the time dinner rolled in. 

During those two days, Kenny was aimlessly wandering around in his ‘afterlife’, waiting to go back again. His ‘afterlife’ was quite simple, a white room with a few pieces of furniture here and there. Before, he would go to hell, where he would chat with Satan until it was time to leave. Kenny was known as ‘Satan’s therapist’ there. 

Thankful for Kenny’s actions, Satan gave him a separate place in hell for him to stay. Away from the fire and screams that filled hell. And that was the white room. No other souls could come into the room, keeping Kenny’s belongings in the room safe. Satan came around from time to time, asking for advice.

But this time around, Satan didn’t come. Which meant that Kenny spent 2 days bored out of his mind, begging to be released. So when he finally got to go back to Hogwarts, his heart was leaping out of his chest from happiness.

He grinned at Stan and skipped downstairs.  _ Wonder what’s for lunch today. I hope it’s pizza. I’ve been cravin-  _ Kenny’s foot slipped and missed the next step, causing his whole body to fall. He tumbled down the stone stairs, wincing as he felt his arm snap from the impact. He smashed his nose on the edge of the stairs and he started to feel light headed. Judging by the numbness in his legs, his neck was probably broken.

“Oh god, Kenny!” Kyle hollered. Kenny heard footsteps running closer to him as he fell down the last few steps, tears streaming down his face.  _ No! I can’t die now! I just came back to life!  _ He felt his body flop onto the stone floor, surrounded by students and teachers. Stan and Kyle were crying in the corner. 

“Oh my god! It killed Kenny!”

“You bastard!”

Kenny grimaced hearing those lines. Hearing that meant he was close to death, but not close enough to die peacefully. He knew in his heart that his friends didn’t mean what they were saying. How could they? To them, Kenny never died. He was always alive, going to class with them. Just like every other student in the school.

“...Ken? Is that you?” Kenny’s ears picked up a small voice. He tried moving his body towards Butters’ voice, but his body was numb.  _ At least it’ll be a painless death.  _ “Oh, hamburgers! It  _ is  _ you, Kenny! What did you do?!” 

Butters ran to his half-dead body, tears pooling in his eyes. He watched as Butters put his hands on his shoulders, shaking. But Kenny couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t even feel the warmth in Butters’ hands. 

And for the first time, he cried at the face of death. He wanted to feel Butters’ warm hands. He wanted to talk with his friend. He  _ needed _ to talk with him one last time, even if he knew that he can come back to life. 

“Ken, I know you’re still alive so please, please just say something!” Butters cried out. Professors were trying to pry Butters off of him, but he wouldn’t budge. He stayed at Kenny’s side, holding onto him. 

Slowly, Kenny’s sight began to darken, luring him closer to death. His ears started to fail him, preventing him from hearing anything Butters was saying. The last thing Kenny saw before completely blacking out was Butters’ crying face as Professor Garrison carried him away.

* * *

How long was Kenny dead for? He couldn’t tell. After death, he didn’t go to the white room. Or heaven. Or hell. He was stuck in darkness. 

Fear that Kenny never felt struck him. Did he actually die? Did he use up all the lives he had like those muggle game characters? He looked down at his body. Unlike his corpse, the body he had now was clean and functional. He still had his Hogwarts uniform and his orange hoodie on. 

“I don’t want to die,” he found himself saying. A foolish thing to say, especially when he could actually be dead. But it was true. He didn’t want to die. He had friends now in Hogwarts that he didn’t want to lose.  _ But are they really your friends? _

That question left Kenny stumped. Yes, he had friends, but who was he to them? No one knew about his curse. No one would believe him if he told them. Stan and Kyle were his friends, but they’re closer to each other. They always seem to care if he gets hospitalized, but Kenny never missed the annoyance in their eyes when they visited.

Tweek is a great friend, a caring one too. He always stuck by Kenny, though their first impression of each other was horrible. Kenny couldn’t force him to carry the burden of dealing with his ‘death curse’ bullshit. Tweek already had enough problems for himself. Kenny wanted him to get better, not stress him out even more.

He had his roommates: Craig, Clyde, and Damien. They’re not exactly the closest people, but he trusted them. It wasn’t that Kenny didn’t want them to know about the curse. He desperately wanted to tell them. But he was scared of their reactions. He was scared to face the truth. Clyde can be a dick at times when it comes to sensitive topics. It was a shitty coping mechanism he had. Craig was just an asshole and after hearing about his ‘dark magic’ side, Kenny really didn’t want to cause him trouble. Damien was just too mysterious. He left the dorms at night to go to god knows where. To Kenny, he was the least trustworthy out of the three. 

That left him with Butters, the sweetest person Kenny had ever met. Their friendship started off as a weird bond between two boys that were constantly in the infirmary together. It was better than needing to have awkward conversations just to break the silence. But it slowly grew into something more than that. 

The two began hanging out when they weren’t in the infirmary. If Kenny was in the infirmary alone, Butters would come visit him, arms full of food and notes for class. And Kenny knew he would do the same for him. 

He found himself spending more time with Butters than with his other friends. It hurt to see how normal his friends acted without him around.  _ They don’t need me.  _ But even after knowing and experiencing the hurt, Kenny stuck with Butters. 

In all honesty, Kenny didn’t deserve to have him in his life. While he wasted his life making stupid jokes or dying, Butters worked hard to get where he is. He wasn’t the best at charms so he studied hard. Kenny encouraged and gave him moral support whenever they studied together. And that got Butters to where he stood now, as one of the top scorers for charms that could use a 4th year spell. 

After becoming friends, Butters was always there for Kenny, whether he wanted him to be there or not. He’s been there and seen some of Kenny’s most grotesque deaths. He was there on his happiest days. Butters had seen both the bad and good days of Kenny McCormick, even if he didn’t remember them.

Kenny felt his cheeks heating up as he thought about Butters. He considered him to be his best friend, someone he never wanted to lose. He thought about his warm hands that supported him through death and joy. 

“I don’t deserve to know someone as great as you are, Leo,” he whispered out into the darkness. “I’ll only bring you down.”

* * *

Kenny’s eyes snapped open, only to be attacked by a bright white light. He grunted and immediately closed them once more. He smacked his lips together, finding that it was chapped.  _ Wait, I can move my body again!  _ That realization led to Kenny pulling on his arm and flinching in pain.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, McCormick,” a voice advised him.  _ Yeah no shit.  _ He pried his eyes open, trying to see the intruder. It wasn’t Butters’ voice, which caused a feeling of disappointment settle in his stomach. It didn’t sound like any of his friends either.  _ Wait, disappointment? _

His breath hitched when he saw the red eyes staring at him. Kenny growled. There was only one person that he knew that had red eyes. “Damien, what do you want. You never visited me before nor do you willingly talk to me.”

Damien raised an eyebrow at him, taken back. He didn’t say anything and stood up from his chair. “Oh wow, now you’re just going to leave? Pussy.”

Kenny regretted those words the moment they left his mouth. Damien glared back at him with those glowing eyes, teeth bared. He had sharper teeth than normal people. Kenny scanned the room, panicking, but it was no use. It must’ve been lunch break because there was no one in the room that could help him. 

“McCormick, when father told me about you, I was surprised. I only saw you as a dumbass. But the rumors are right. A netherborn, right under my nose.” Confusion filled Kenny’s mind.  _ Netherborn? His dad? What do I have to do with any of this bullshit?  _ “You must be confused. No surprise there. Allow me to explain.

“You’re immortal aren’t you? My father’s minions used to tell me tales about the boy who cannot die. I didn’t think it was you until I saw it with my own eyes. A harrowing experience, if you ask me. You can curse your parents if you want to blame someone. Going to a Cthulhu party just so they could get free drugs and alcohol. 

“And that cursed you forever, turning their unborn son into an immortal boy. You and me, we’re not so different, aren’t we? Both cursed to live with pain. You need to feel and witness the pain of dying every time. I experience isolation and hatred.”

Kenny felt his head starting to spin from all the information. A few moments ago, he was dead, wishing that he was alive. He was starting to think that staying dead for a little longer would’ve been better. 

“My mother was stupid. She fell in love with someone she should’ve never been in love with. Her family never accepted it, nor did her friends. Fuck, her entire town disagreed. She got kicked out, pregnant and nowhere to go to survive. 

“So what did my father do? He took her in because he felt bad. He didn’t have feelings for her any longer, but it was his child to start with.  Just like you McCormick. One fucking choice our parents made cured us forever,” he finished, glaring down at the ground. 

Suddenly, the pieces started to fit back together in his head. Why Damien never talked about his family and where he came from. How he had red eyes. Why Satan gave him the ‘white room’ to stay in when hell was a perfectly nice place for him. 

“You’re Satan’s son…” he managed out. Damien sighed and sat on the edge of the bed near his foot. “But how- how can that be possible? Satan never leaves hell unattended. If you had been living there, why have I never seen you before? Why would you be cursed?”

“God, one question at a time,” Damien hissed in reply. Kenny shut his mouth and stared at him, a weird sense of familiarity radiating off of him. “I don’t fucking know how my parents had me. I don’t ever intend on finding that out either. I never saw you because I lived in the white room. It was unused after I started attending Hogwarts. Someone must’ve told my father that I knew you. So he put you in the white room, to make sure I don’t see you there.

“As for the curse, it might be easier if you see it for yourself,” he said and got up from where he sat. Kenny watched as Damien proceeded to turn off every light and close the curtains on the windows. Kenny could barely make out the objects that were in the room. He squinted and found Damien’s red eyes glowing in the darkness. 

He heard some shuffling and felt the bed sink at his side.  _ Damien must’ve moved closer. _ “Now look this way.” 

Kenny reluctantly turned towards Damien’s voice. He was surprised to find his side of the room warmly lit up. It helped him see him better. But, when he saw his face, shock over took him. Tiny black scales that weren’t there before covered his cheeks. 

“What the fuck!” Kenny yelped, sinking further into the bed. Damien chuckled and moved his scarf to the side. There were scales underneath the scarf, running down his neck. 

“This is my curse, McCormick. I’m like a werewolf, except I don’t turn into a wolf. Have you heard of fire-breathing salamanders before?” And with that Damien blew into his hand softly, exhaling a small gust of fire. The flames danced in his hand like it didn’t affect him at all. He clenched his fist, extinguishing the fire. “Sad how easily people can turn on each other. The townsmen in my mother’s hometown cursed me, saying I should ‘rot in hell’. How ironic is that now.”

Kenny’s mouth hung open. Damien’s curse was better than his in every way possible. He didn’t get why he was complaining about it. Damien laughed quietly and started to turn the lights in the room on again. As the light hit his skin, the scales started to disappear, returning to human skin. 

“Ken!” Butters yelled as he strutted into the infirmary. Damien looked at the door and turned his gaze back to Kenny.

“That’s my cue to leave. Guess we really are similar, McCormick. I have a hufflepuff I want to protect as well,” Damien waved a hand and slipped out of the room, leaving a very confused and very flustered Kenny on the bed. Butters looked at Damien in surprise and skipped over to Kenny’s bed. 

“What’s Damien doing here? He never visits anyone in the infirmary,” Butters asked softly, sitting down on the bed where Damien sat a few minutes ago. Kenny’s eyes widened, unable to come up with a witty reply to his friend. It must’ve looked suspicious, Damien walking out grinning while Kenny’s face was flushed and in shock. 

“Oh- uh Damien was telling me about the stupid shit Craig and Clyde were up to in the dorms while I wasn’t there. He told me too much in one sitting if you ask me,” he managed out, voice strained. He was used to lying, but something in him told him it was wrong to lie to the hufflepuff. Butters nodded quietly and began humming.

“Ever since Pip started talking with Damien, he’s a lot happier,” eventually said, swinging his feet as they didn’t reach the floor when he sat. “Always ‘Damien this’ and ‘Damien that’. I think it’s cute. They’re opposites, but look at them. They make each other happy in a way I’ve never seen anyone else do.

“You know Ken, I never had a friend like you before. My dad never let me play with the other wizards in the area, always grounding me for some stupid reason. So everyday I prayed, prayed for a friend that would be there for me. 

“When I got here, I was so happy. It was a new opportunity. My dad wasn’t here to ground me. I was finally free. I could talk to anyone I want, I could do anything I want within the school rules. 

“But because I had no friend experience, I had no idea how friends treated each other. Sure there were my roommates, the sweetest people I’ve ever met, but we were never that close. They were always out of the dorm anyway. So when Eric approached me, I felt needed, like I was important. I couldn’t see that he was using me.

“It started off as small things. Asking me to carry his books and bags or asking for homework help. I needed him to like me so I agreed everytime. That just acted like a go-sign for him. He made me do all the tedious work he didn’t want to do. I was back under restrictions of someone again. Nothing changed.

“But you, Ken, you were different. You believed in me and encouraged me to do what I liked. You told me to keep practicing charms even if I wasn’t good at it because you saw potential. And that was all I needed. 

“When we made the potion for Eric, I was scared. It was such a risky thing to do, especially since it’s against school rules. But I joined because you were there. I knew that if you were there I wouldn’t feel alone. And I never did. If it got too much for me, you’ll ditch with me, telling the others some bullshit reason. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m so happy we’re friends, Ken. I don’t know how I’ll survive the next few years without you,” Butters finished with a large grin. The lights shone in from the window above Kenny’s bed, illuminating Butters’ face in an almost angelic way. His blond hair glowed like a halo and his blue eyes twinkled. 

Kenny swallowed hard. He was beautiful. 

He didn’t know how to reply. He knew what he wanted to tell him. He wanted to thank Butters for being there and he wanted him to stay. But Kenny knew that it’ll never happen. Between him and his curse, it’ll just tear them apart.

The thick silence between the two boys broke when a large crashing noise rang from the door of the infirmary. Butters shrieked, jumping up from the bed and glared at the door. There, Tweek stood with his eyes wide as saucers. 

“Tweek! What happened!?” he asked, running up to the boy. Tweek looked at him wearily and whispered something. Butters eyed him almost sadly and nodded, leaving the infirmary in a hurry.

Kenny stared in confusion as Tweek stormed over to him and pulled up a chair, angrily sitting down. Panic filled his veins, not understanding why Tweek was so mad.  _ What did I do wrong? I really don’t want Tweek to get pissed at me. He’s aggressive when he’s mad.  _

“You’re so gay McCormick, did you know that?”  _ Well that’s not I expected.  _ Tweek’s statement left Kenny appalled. Did Tweek come all the way to the infirmary just to say that?

“Tweek, you tell me that everyday. I like your pattern like behavior, but you really didn’t have to come all the way here to tell-”

“I heard, hng, Butters’ speech fromoutside the infirmary. You guysweren’tthat quiet.”

“Oh,” Kenny murmured out. He couldn’t find any other words to say. If Tweek heard the whole thing, that meant he held information that could go against both Kenny and Butters. He trusted Tweek, but he didn’t know how much he trusted him especially with such information.

“Okay but that was all Butters’ talking, not me. You’re jumping to conclusions here,” Kenny pointed out, desperate to get out of the situation. Butters was his closest friend. He didn’t want to ruin their relationship because of some stupid rumor. 

Twee raised his eyebrow and groaned. “Kenny, your fuckingface is red. Gah, you’renotmaking eye contact with me. You keepfiddlingwith your fingers. Speakup and tell me the truth, man. I won’ttell.”

Millions of thoughts rushed through Kenny’s head. He didn’t know what he was feeling. Was he simply still flustered from his conversation with Damien or with Butters? But his conversation with Damien had no topic that could’ve made him blush. He only started acting this way after hearing his comment before he left. Before… 

“...Leo. It’s Leo,” Kenny whispered out, embarrassment exploding within him. Both times he blushed, Butters was involved. Damien commented on his friendship with him. And Butters told him his appreciation speech. 

“See, thatwasn’t that, nng, bad,” Tweek whispered back, rubbing Kenny’s back lightly. But admitting the cause of his embarrassment didn’t solve the mystery in his mind. Why did Butters make him feel this way? Why did his smile bring butterflies to his stomach that wasn’t there before? Why did he get lost in his eyes? Why did he think of him as ‘beautiful’?

“Agh, youdon’tneed to think so hard,” Tweek reassured. “You don’t need to figure everything out at once. Youcan take years to findyourtrue feelings. If youever need to talk, you knowhere I am.”

“I don’t get what you’re trying to say, Tweek,” Kenny said, flopping down into a lying position his bed. Tweek leaned onto the back legs of his chair, looking out the window. He was almost in the same position Butters was in. Yet, Kenny didn’t feel the same rush Butters gave him. 

“You’ll figure itoutsoon, Kenny.”

“Enough about me, what’s up with you? You hate coming up here by yourself because it’s  ‘Too much pressure’,” he asked, avoiding eye contact.

Tweek didn’t answer, still looking out the window. Annoyed, Kenny asked him again, this time with more aggression. Still, Tweek looked out the window, as if there was something more important than Kenny’s question out there. He pushed the blond away from the window, looking out himself. Outside, in the field, Craig and his friends walked around, throwing snowballs at each other. 

“Kenny,” Tweek said, almost in a whisper, like it was something forbidden, “I need you to tell me everything you know about dark magic.”

* * *

Kenny held his head as he walked into the dormitories, ready to get some well needed sleep. 

Tweek had been following him around for a week now, asking the same question. He didn’t understand why he was suddenly so fascinated by the dark arts. If anything, Kenny expected him to be terrified of the thought of it. 

He told him everything he knew about the subject, starting from the rumored origin story of a stick that allowed the owner superior power. 

“They called it the Stick of Truth,” he said, munching on the pastries Tweek brought as payment. “Whoever held the stick had control over time and space. But one day, it fell to the hands of an evil wizard. He used it to create an army of dark magic, spreading his knowledge to wizards across the globe. 

“No one knows where the stick is or what happened to the army created then. All we know for sure that his followers still exist, practicing dark magic.”

Kenny sat on his bed, staring at the messy floor. He had told Tweek everything and he swallowed all the information. A week had passed since he last talked to him.  _ Why am I avoiding him? Maybe because- _

His thoughts got cut off by someone clearing his throat. Glaring, Kenny stood up, finding Craig lounging on his bed. 

“Tucker, what the fuck are you doing on my bed,” he asked as calmly as he could. Craig layed on the bed, holding a book in his hands. He recognized the cover from astronomy class. 

“Dumbass, this is my bed. What do you want.”

Kenny blinked at him, taken by surprise. He slowly began to look around the room and realized that his bed was on the other side of the room. His face began to burn as he walked to his bed, head hung down in embarrassment. 

“What’s up with you, McCormick. You usually get to your own bed even with your eyes closed,” Craig snorted. Kenny kept his face faced away from him, contemplating whether he should tell Craig about his talk with Tweek.  _ Wait, didn’t Craig use dark magic before? _

“You know Tweek right? He was just asking me about dark magic shit. Some of the stuff he said was just keeping me thinking, that’s all,” he finally said, lifting his head up. Kenny watched as color drained from Craig’s face, changing his stoic expression into a face of panic. 

“What did he want to know.” he demanded, his voice sounding a lot weaker than usual.

“Just the basic shit man. Where it started and why it exists. What good it does. Really just the things anyone would be interested in knowing. No idea why he didn’t ask you though. Shouldn’t you be more trustworthy for this topic? I mean I was there when you read that old ass book Leo found. Also, why are you so shocked about Tweek asking?” 

Craig got up immediately, hurriedly making his way to the door. Kenny groaned.  _ There he goes, running away from his problems again.  _ But he returned to where Kenny sat, confusing him. He sat on his bed, staring at Kenny from across the room.

“You’re not getting out of here until you tell me what the fuck happened between you two.”

“What the fuck man!” Kenny cried out. “I just came here to get some sleep and now I’m being held hostage? Dude, I don’t know what kind of gay shit you have with Tweek, but I’m not a part of it! He asked me while I was in the infirmary so I answered him. End of story.”

Kenny knew that explanation wouldn’t convince Craig. But he had nothing else to say. That was truly what happened. That thought conjured irritation within Kenny.

“What about you, Craig? Why so you suddenly care so much about what one person thinks? You didn’t care what we thought when you used your fucking dark magic to make Cartman’s potion. Why Tweek?”

“Because he witnessed me use the magic first hand okay!” he yelled out, losing control of his emotions. In the half a year Kenny had roomed with him, he had never seen Craig so emotional. “You assholes never saw me use it. I just read the fucking book and got your goddamn ingredients. But Tweek was there when I used it, real dark magic.  _ I _ was the one that changed Cartman’s hair back to brown that day.”

Craig’s confession cleared up the confusion that was present in Kenny’s thoughts. Why Tweek was invested in dark magic out of nowhere. Why he didn’t go ask Craig right away. Why he said his final words. 

“I didn’t want him to hate me,” Craig finished, almost like a plea. Kenny couldn’t believe it. Craig Tucker, the boy known for his stone cold emotions, was pleading for one person to not hate him. That person being a twitchy, panicky hufflepuff. 

“He doesn’t hate you,” Kenny said, standing up from his bed. He walked to the door and turned the lock, opening it. He could feel Craig’s stare burning into his back. 

“You know what the last thing he said to me was? After hearing all the horrible shit about dark magic? He said, ‘Kenny, you make it sound like dark magic is some horrible thing wizards made. And I get it, it caused war and betrayal. But would Craig really betray us using dark magic?’.”

Kenny turned around to look at Craig one last time. He had pulled his chullo strings down, hiding his face. 

“What the fuck did you do to Tweek. Are you manipulating him to like your dark ways?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh a chapter from Kenny's POV!!
> 
> This isn't one of my proudest chapters, but I hope yall like it :)
> 
> Thank you guys again so much for all the love on the previous chapter!! The comments and kudos honestly made my week so much better :)
> 
> As usual, if you guys have any questions, suggestions for the future (characters, pairings), or just anything you want to say in general please leave a comment! They really give me the energy to get another chapter out there.
> 
> Thanks, guys! I love you all sm!!
> 
> -egg


	11. Lonely Summers

Stan really thought he was having a great time at Hogwarts. He was surrounded by friends that kept his days bright and filled with laughs. Classes were a bore most of the time, but he managed through them. Even Cartman was tolerable for the most part. But that all got shattered once finals week rolled in. 

“Stan, you haven’t moved from that page for an hour,” Kyle commented, not looking up from the astronomy textbook he was reading. Stan groaned in reply, closing and throwing the book aside. He spent his Hogwarts life fooling around and bullshitting his way through homework that he barely knew anything about his finals. 

The boys currently sat in the middle of the gryffindor dormitories, spending their Saturday afternoon studying. Tweek lounged on Jimmy’s bed, spending half his time staring at his books and the other half screaming into a pillow. Kenny was folding paper airplanes with the paper he used to take notes on claiming it was “too messy to study off of”. Butters charmed the airplanes so that they flew into the air, hovering softly above the two blonds. 

“Can we stop studying for two hours and just chill?” Stan asked, flopping down on the floor. Kyle finally looked up from the book, staring at him in dismay.

“Isn’t that what you were doing this whole fucking morning?” he countered, a smirk appearing on his face. Stan growled and hit his knee with his history textbook, making Kyle howl out. “Son of a bitch!”

“Hnng! How about a gameofnever have I ever? Maybe we’ll learn somethingnewabout each other? Or maybe not? Urgh! Thisis too much pressure!” Tweek yelled and fell back into the pillow, the end of his sentence getting muffled. The smirk on Kyle's face disappeared hearing his suggestion. 

“Dude! I haven’t played that in forever! Let’s do it!” he said, rounding up everyone in the room to sit with him on the floor. Stan stared at the two muggleborns, confused about this ‘never have I ever’ game they mentioned.  _ Does it involve magic? I hope not because I’m sick of it after a whole fucking day of studying.  _

Butters waved his wand into the air, causing the floating airplanes to fall to the floor as he joined the circle. His eyes shined with excitement for the unknown game. “So fellas, what’s this ‘never have I ever’ thing you’re talking about? Is it a fun game?” 

Kyle’s ears perked up at the question. He immediately began explaining the rules to the game, waving his arms around as he did so. After 10 minutes, Stan, Butters, and Kenny knew the basics of the muggle game. The five of them each held up five fingers, ready to play the game.

“I’ll start, ngh, since I suggestedthe game. Oh god, this istoomuchpressure! Urgh, never have I everbroken a bone!” Tweek half shrieked. Stan raised an eyebrow at his confession. He assumed that he had broken at least one bone already due to his clumsiness, but no. Tweek Tweak’s bones were safe from fractures.

Stan looked around the group, looking out for any dropped fingers. He spotted one, a finger that belonged to Kenny. “You broke a bone before?” 

Kenny flinched at the question as if remembering a bad incident. He reached up to his hooded neck, rubbing to tightly. His exposed eyes were filled with fear. “Yeah. I broke my hand when I was 6. Fell off my house roof when I was playing Santa with my sister.” He grinned at the end, covering up the nervousness he had when the question was first asked. 

Stan felt a slight disappointment fill him. _Why did he seem scared to hear the question when his experience wasn’t that bad? Why did he rub his neck?_ The more he thought about it, the more confusion it brought. Suddenly, a sharp pain went through Stan’s temple, making him wince. He rubbed it, a weird scene appearing within him. Something that looked like a distant memory.    
  


 

He was looking up into the sky, staring at a blond boy flew wildly in the air. Stan scoffed, in disbelief from what he was seeing. Every flyer knew that flying like that 100ft in the air only brings trouble.  _ No! He can’t die!  _ The sudden thought surprised Stan, making him tear his eyes off of the boy. 

He didn’t recognize the blond boy that was flying, yet he had a strong feeling in his gut that he didn’t want to see him die. As if on cue, screams filled his ears. He turned back to the boy, only to catch a glimpse of his plummeting body. He heard a large cracking sound, creating more chaos. More people began screaming, some even crying.

Stan ran over to the boy and gasped out loud seeing the state he was in. His face was bloody, too messed up to identify who he was. His neck was bent awkwardly and so were his legs. Stan was hit by a wave of nausea from the strong scent of blood, knees buckling. He felt himself becoming light headed and his vision began to darken. His eyes caught the scarf the boy was wearing right as he blacked out. A green and silver scarf with orange underneath. 

  
  


“Stan? Did you hear what I asked?” Butters whispered to him, shaking his shoulder lightly. Stan blinked as he was pulled away from his thoughts. He tried thinking back to the scene he just thought, only to find that he didn’t remember any of it. The only part he vaguely remembered was- 

“Stan, have you ever done something illegal before?” Stan looked back at the speaker with wide eyes.  _ Kenny _ . Kenny was the only person he knew that matched the characteristics he remembered. Blond hair, check. Slytherin scarf with orange underneath, check.  _ But what did he have to do with the weird thought he just had? _ “Dude, stop your ‘I’m so innocent’ act. We all know you’ve done something illegal before. Just fess up.”

Stan’s confused thoughts were now replaced with pure panic. Yes, he had done illegal shit before, but did he really want to confess to it? “You have to promise you won’t tell anyone,” he emphasized. He made sure he saw everyone in the room agree to the terms and sighed. “I would steal drinks from my dad back at home and get drunk from them.”

He felt everyone’s eyes glued on him as he finished his confession.  _ They hate you now. You shouldn’t have confessed that.  _ His thoughts were taking over him, sending him down a spiral of self-doubt and hate.

“Stanley Marsh drinking from such a young age? Certainly didn’t expect that. If anything, I would’ve thought you were the ‘all clean jock’ kind of dude,” Kenny said shrugging. His comment didn’t make Stan feel any better, even if the right intention was there. He could still feel Kyle and Butters staring through him.

“Nng, that’s notthatbad,” Tweek interjected, pulling the boys’ attention away from Stan. “My parents they, ugh, used to sellcoffeewith meth in them.” 

“Tweek!”

“What the fuck man! Did you report it?”

“Meth? Is that a bad thing?”   


Tweek shrieked back in reply, burying his face in Jimmy’s pillow again.  _ Maybe that’s why he’s so twitchy,  _ Stan thought, wide eyes staring at the shaking blond. 

“Don’t worry guys,” Kyle began, lightly touching Tweek’s back. “His parents didn’t know what was in their coffee grinds. They’re all clean now. It was in the news two years back.” His words didn’t exactly lighten the mood, but it definitely had some effect. 

Stan began to feel bad for the blond, drugged by his parents from such a young age. The side effects from the blond were still prominent and he was still devastatingly addicted to caffeine. His confession began to sound a lot more light-hearted than Tweek’s. At least it was his choice to get wasted. 

“Stan, Tweek, have you ever told anyone about this?” Kyle asked, not making eye contact with either of them. The two boys shook their head. It was the first time they’ve ever admitted it out loud. “Wait, then how did Cartman know about it?”

Kyle’s question left an uneasy mood in the room. “Kyle, what are you talking about?” Butters asked, looking around nervously. 

“Don’t you guys remember? Back when we were in flying class and I got into a fight with Cartman,” Kyle began, his voice gaining confidence as he continued to talk. “He mentioned that I was Jewish that day, even though I never told anyone in Hogwarts that I was Jewish before that day. 

“And after that, he kept listing off other things. And one of the things he mentioned was that Stan stole alcohol from his dad to drink. That just got me thinking that maybe, just maybe fatass had some kind of system to get information about us. If he really does, we need to get to the bottom of it,” he finished aggressively. 

“Kyle, I get you’re mad, but the last thing we need right now is more drama,” Stan tried to reason with his friend. Kyle glared back at him, crossing his arms. “Let’s just forget about it for now and continue the game, huh? Alright, never have I ever sucked a dick before,” he asked, grinning widely. His friends groaned back in reply, rolling their eyes. Stan still caught the faint smile that formed on each of their faces. He even caught Kyle laughing. 

“You guys keep groaning like that and someone’s going to think we’re sucking dick in here.”

* * *

 

“Dude, did you see the look on Cartman’s face as we left the dining hall?”

“Fucking priceless. His face was almost as red as your hair,” Stan laughed and pointed at his redhead friend. Kyle’s face flushed, punching his shoulder. The two sat on the train leaving Hogwarts along with Kenny, Butters, and Tweek.

The five boys had finished their finals rather smoothly, thanks to Butters and Kyle who reviewed important sections from the textbook till the very second they had to take the tests.  Stan wasn’t expecting much out of his finals though. He knew he had no hope to begin with and Kyle helping him only gave him a small sliver of a chance that he wouldn’t fail. 

He stared out the window, engrossed in his own thoughts as his friends chatted about their summer. The first few months in Hogwarts felt like forever, learning new concepts and meeting friends and enemies. The last few, however, seemed to fly by, mostly because he was growing used to the strange shenanigans that occurred in Hogwarts. Maybe it also had to do with Cartman getting into huge trouble after the whole ‘daywalker’ incident. Fatass stayed relatively calm the rest of the school year after hearing the word “expulsion” come out of Professor McGonagall’s mouth. 

Summer meant Stan was back to doing absolutely nothing all day long. Without the protection provided by Hogwarts, he wasn’t allowed to use magic again. None of his friends lived close enough for him to bother on a daily basis. That left him with Sparky, his not so much of a kitten anymore but will forever be a kitten Philip, and his secret alcohol stash. 

None of his friends mentioned the alcohol confession to him ever since that night. They still treated Stan the same way they did before the confession night. But he always had the nagging feeling that his friends were judging him for the actions he took. 

What they didn’t know was that he still drank on occasion. That he still drank when he was alone in his house, under Sparky’s worried eyes. 

It all started off as a sheer curiosity. His dad has been drinking long before he learned how to walk. Seeing the goofy smile on his face when he got drunk got the 10 year old boy curious. He needed to know what this alcohol tastes like. He wanted to feel the same goofy happiness his father experienced.

Stan snuck into the kitchen when his parents and Shelly were out and stole a few bottles of fire whiskey from the pantry. It wasn’t like anyone was going to notice. Alcohol filled their pantry, due to his alcoholic dad. 

At first, Stan didn’t get why people liked drinking so much. It burned the back of his throat and made him cough, half puking out everything he ate for breakfast. But once he calmed down and to started drank more, the burning sensation turning into a pleasurable warmth in the back of his throat. 

He ended up drinking until he puked and passed out, thankfully waking up before anyone came home. He was skeptical about drinking again due to the effect it had on him, but the sensations it brought were engraved in his body. He needed that buzz again. 

And just like that, Stan’s alcoholism started. He never drank as much as the day he first drank. He took small amounts of it, multiple times a day, just enough for him to feel a light buzz. It was really the only aspect of home he was missing. He had a few bottles with him that he brought to Hogwarts, but he hasn’t been able to actually drink in a while. 

That was all he was expecting out of this summer too. His parents would be busy with their jobs, both day and night. Shelly’s friends lived nearby meaning she was going to be out most of the time. That left Stan with his half-empty bottles. 

Wanting to enjoy what little time he had left with his friends, Stan spent the rest of the train ride back talking to them, asking how they were going to spend their summer. He tried to ignore the pain in his chest as no one asked him what he was going to do. 

“I was hoping if I could go see you, Stan,” Kyle muttered to him, eyes looking over at their other friends. Stan raised an eyebrow at him, not understanding why he couldn’t have said it out loud.

“Didn’t you just tell everyone that you’re busy over summer because of some Jewish camp you need to go to?” Stan asked, suspicious of his friend’s actions. Kyle slouched into the train seat, half leaning onto Stan. Their other friends didn’t seem to notice, all of them too busy discussing what candy they bought from the sweets cart. 

“Well yeah, but that’s at the beginning of summer. End of summer I won’t be busy and- and I’m going to miss you, Stan. You’re my best friend. Everyone back at home has a best friend near them, but you’re my best friend. I have to show you off somehow,” his words made a new feeling blossom inside Stan. Hope.

“You want to show me off.”

“Of course I do, dude! You’re my best friend and you’re a cool dude. I want everyone in town to see that the cool guy they saw around is my best friend,” the grin at the end of Kyle’s sentence proved to him that he wasn’t lying. Whenever he lied his face pulled itself into a forced smile, gums exposed. This smile wasn’t that. 

Stan felt a sense of confidence rush through him, along with the new found hope. He had a friend, a best friend that wanted to spend time with him and show him off to the world to see.  _ No wonder Shelly always wants to be with her friends over the summer. This feels awesome. _

Stan grinned back at Kyle, swinging an arm around his shoulders. He let out a surprised yelp and eased into the touch. “You know what, Kyle. I want to show you off to my neighbors too. We better have a sleepover at yours and then mine at the end of summer,” Stan declared, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“We will, for sure,” he replied, laughing.

Stan closed his eyes, relishing in the warm feeling of hope. Maybe he wasn’t going to get wasted during the summer. He had hope that he wasn’t going to.

* * *

 

“Stanley! Did you clean up your room? Kyle’s going to be here in 30 minutes and I need that room to be clean!” his mom called from the bottom of the stairs.

Groaning, Stan lifted his spinning his from his pillow. Philip meowed enthusiastically next to him, his black ears perking up at the name Kyle. “You miss him too, huh Philip?” he asked, rubbing his cat’s head. Philip purred back, turning sound and exposing his stomach for Stan to pet.

He smiled softly at his adorable pet, giving him the belly rubs he deserves. He tried to get up from the lying position he was in so that he could pet Philip better, only to fall back down into his pillow. “Should’ve not taken those shots yesterday,” Stan grumbled to himself and reached for the glass of water on his bedside table.

He kept true to his words back in the train at the beginning of the summer. He indeed didn’t get wasted all summer long, even staying away from it as much as possible. But the pure anxiety brought down upon him by the fact that he was going to see Kyle after weeks of silence overtook him. He needed a drink to calm him down. 

Suddenly, loud knocks came crashing down on him, making Stan cry out and cover his ears. “Stan, you turd,” Shelly yelled as she opened the door. “Mom wants you downstairs so get your ass down there right now.” 

After reciting her message, his sister closed the door with a bang, leaving Stan alone in his room once again with his spinning head. Grunting, he pushed himself off of his bed, careful not to crush his cat’s tail as he did so. Philip purred in return as if thanking him for his actions. He grabbed the clean clothes he left out last night and checked himself in the mirror.

The water must’ve helped him because he looked and felt a lot soberer than he did that morning. His eye bags were less prominent, maybe because he was more awake now or maybe because of the light that was shining on his face. His hair was a mess, but he didn’t care about it. He was going to cover it up with his hat anyway. As a final touch, he pulled on the brown jacket that he always wore and headed downstairs.

His parents and sister were all sitting down at the dining table, munching away at their breakfast. His dad was complaining that he wasn’t allowed to visit Kyle’s muggle household while his mom blatantly ignored him. Shelly was typing away on her new muggle technology thing her friend got her. Stan remembered they were called cell phones.

“Ah Stan, I thought you were never going to come down. How was your night, sweetheart?” His mom asked, looking up from the newspaper article she was reading. Stan nodded and told her it was good and sat down in front of her to start eating breakfast. His mom smiled, satisfied with his answer and returned to her reading.

Silence filled the Marsh household once again. Stan desperately wished for Kyle to come soon. He couldn’t stand the awkward tension in his house for longer. 

As if on cue, the front doorbell rang and Stan sprinted to the door. He opened it enthusiastically, face breaking into a smile seeing the familiar face of his freckled friend. 

“Dude!” he cried out, pulling Kyle into a hug. “It’s been so long! I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!” Kyle laughed, adjusting his green hat. Nothing about him had changed in the few weeks they haven’t seen one another. Maybe he grew a little taller, but so did Stan so there wasn’t any difference there. 

“It’s been way too long! How was Jewish Camp anyway?” he groaned immediately hearing Stan’s question and he got the basic idea.  _ Probably didn’t have a good time.  _ “Oh! Is that your brother?”

Kyle’s expression changed instantly at his comment. He turned behind him, where his mom was taking their bags out of the car. He waved towards someone standing next to Mrs. Broflovski. “Ike! Come here!” Kyle called out.

A raven-haired boy ran up to the front of Stan’s door, groaning. “Kyle, I’m trying to get all my shit out the car,” he complained, gesturing to the car. Stan stared at the two so called siblings, noticing that they had no facial similarities.

Ike had dark hair while the rest of the Broflovski’s had light hair. He didn’t have freckles like his brother.  _ What the- _

“He’s adopted,” Kyle informed, watches Ike walk back to the car grumbling. “He’s from Canada. Came to my house when he was still a baby.” Stan nodded, finally understanding the situation. He forced a smile as he turned to Kyle, covering up the jealousy that was building up in him. 

Kyle’s family was the perfect family. He had loving parents that cared for him, even if it’s over the top at times. They even had a fourth family member that wasn’t part of their family to begin with, yet they got along better than Stan’s. He sighed, turning to where Ike stood, getting attacked by Mrs. Broflovski and her kisses.

“She still treats Ike like he’s a baby, probably because she adopted him when she found out she can’t have babies anymore. He was like her hope, you know,” Kyle whispered and walked over to Ike, grabbing his bags. He too got attacked by kisses in the process, but he didn’t look upset by it. He hugged his mom goodbye and watched her drive away.

“Why isn’t my family like that,” Stan muttered, further opening the door so the two siblings could walk in.

* * *

 

“No, no, no, Ike, you don’t get it. Hogwarts isn’t like South Park Middle School. There’s moving stairs!” Kyle cried out for the third time. Stan laughed as he watched him attempt to explain to his brother about Hogwarts. 

“But there’s no wifi there? How am I supposed to watch YouTube then?”

“You don’t need to watch YouTube if you have magic!” he exclaimed, flopping onto Stan’s bed in defeat. Ike tumbled onto the floor laughing after seeing the state of his brother. Stan joined in, the two boys laughing until tears ran down their cheeks.

“Boys?” a knock interrupted. They slowly breathed out, trying to calm their laughter. Stan’s mom cracked open the door, carrying her bag. “It’s time for us to go to Diagon Alley for shopping! Ike, we need to go buy your all new supplies while you two second years need to prepare yourself for a new school year.” 

Stan jumped out from his bed, pulling Kyle up with him. The redhead yelped, falling off the bed as he forcibly yanked him up. He glared up at Stan, sighing and cracking a smile when he saw the excited look on his face.

Ike practically sprinted downstairs to the Marsh’s fireplace so they could use floo powder to get to Diagon Alley. Kyle called after his brother worriedly, only to give up after watching him jump his way to the first floor. 

Stan waited until his friends left his room and closed the door quietly behind him. In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his alcohol stash. He’s barely touched it over summer, a fact he was proud.  _ Maybe Hogwarts is changing me.  _ The thought left a grin on his face as he followed his friends down, heart filled with hope for the new school year.

* * *

The boys were able to find all of their Hogwarts supplies successfully and only got lost 6 times, an improvement from the year before. Ike hopped from store to store, amazed by the new society he was witnessing.

They now sat in a closed compartment on the Hogwarts express with Ike complaining that he didn’t know anyone of his age. “I’m going to be a fucking loner! That’s the last thing I want in this school,” he argued.

Stan smiled weakly, patting him on the back. “Just find a compartment with someone that looks your age in it. They won’t reject you, I promise,” he reassured, earning a smile from his brother. Ike nodded back in return and headed out, searching for a new compartment.

“I hope he finds friends like we did,” Kyle muttered, staring at the door Ike left out of. Stan didn’t know what to say. During the sleepover, Kyle told him how much Ike meant to him. How he was his friend when he was all alone in school. But now that Ike was going to a foreign school with no knowledge of magic, who knows what’ll happen to him. “I don’t want him to go through the same shit I did.”

“If he does, we’ll have to go beat up the fucker that hurt him, don’t we? Dude, we have Tweek and Kenny on our backs too. And let me tell you, Tweek is one scary guy. Like, have you ever been punched by him! Now he may be a spaz but-”

“Marsh, ngh, are youtalkingshit aboutme?” Tweek’s voice interjected, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned on the doorframe. Stan looked at Kyle nervously, who simply shrugged him off. Sighing, Tweek sat down in front of them with a soft thump and gave Stan a light punch. “Gladtohear I, ugh, have sucha  great impression onyou.”

“Hey man, we’re just saying,” Kyle added, kicking Stan,“if we ever need help beating up someone, you’re the first person we’ll turn to.” Tweek twitched and raised his eyebrow, a small smile forming on his face.

“Hnng, I’ll takethat as a compliment. Unlessitwasn’t. Oh jesus, this istoomuch pressure,” his hands flew to his hair and pulled, making him wince.  _ He really hasn’t changed.  _ Stan smiled, realizing how much he missed the twitchy blond and his mannerisms. 

The compartment door opened once again, revealing a bright orange hoodie.  _ Kenny _ . He waltzed in, taking his place next to Tweek like he owned the place. He proceeded to pull the hood down, giving the group a toothy smile. “Miss me, boys?”

The group erupted into laughter and hugged one another, glad to be seeing each other again. Stan grinned, filled with happiness that only his friends gave him.  _ Man, I missed them, I missed them so much. _

* * *

He sat down in the compartment alone, looking out the window. His eyes caught a mess of a blond hair in the distance, a head he immediately recognized. His sister groaned from the door, peeking her head in.

“Hey asshole, do you need me to stay with you so you won’t be so lonely?” she asked. He flipped her off in reply, a gesture she took as a yes and walked in. Her light, red hair was tied in two pigtails, a creation her brother was proud about.

He continued staring out, waiting for his friends to appear. Why his parents wanted to drop the two kids off earlier than everyone else confused the boy. Not that he cared that much. His whole family had secrets that they didn’t tell one another. They never pried either.

“You’re so fucking gay, Craig,” his sister groaned out, catching him staring at Tweek Tweak once again. Ever since he came home, all she heard from his friends was about a blond named Tweek Tweak that was turning Craig into a useless homosexual, as usual. 

He flipped her off, turning towards her this time. “Looks like it runs in the family, Tricia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys are now going into the second year, how exciting!!
> 
> Sorry for the shitty updates lately :( It's all filler chapters that I'm not proud of tbh
> 
> School's been really stressful because I need to get my grades up and I only have a month to do it. Also, I've been having a really bad writer's block. So if you guys have any suggestions, it'll really help.
> 
> As usual, thank you guys so much for the loving comments on the previous chapter :) You guys are truly the best
> 
> If you have any questions, suggestions for the future (please), or any pairing you want to see more of, please comment below and I'll try to incorporate it as much as I can 
> 
> Thanks, guys! Love you all!
> 
> -egg


	12. Falling for a Friend

“Oh you have to be fucking kidding me,” Kyle groaned and let his head drop onto the long table. Stan snickered at his reaction to his new schedule, amused by the redhead’s discontent. “Shut up, Stan. You’re not the one with history and potions first thing in the morning.”

This only caused Stan to snicker more, evolving into a loud laughter. Kyle kicked his friend under the table, attempting to shut him up. Kenny eventually started laughing as well, joining the gryffindors at their table, tears streaming out of his eyes.

“Why does my brother look like he wants to kill you, Stan?” Ike asked, both in confusion and hilarity. Kyle glared at his brother, now regretting the proud feeling he had when he got sorted into gryffindor. 

While Kyle took ages to get sorted into gryffindor, the hat called out the house name quickly for Ike. He grinned widely and sprinted to where Kyle sat, truly proud of himself for following his brother’s footsteps. Kyle was happy too, but getting sorted into the same house meant that he was going to witness the stupid shit Kyle and his friends did every fucking day.

Kyle frowned, done with the teasing of his friends.  _ Lucky Stan. He doesn’t need to learn about some shitty ass history and brew potions first thing.  _ He dropped his schedule onto the table and groaned again. As far as he knew so far, no one he knew was in his potions class. Thankfully, Davíd was in is history class. 

Kyle caught sight of a messy blond head swooping down and grabbing his schedule, smiling weakly. “Morning, Tweek. Please ignore those laughing assholes.”

Tweek chuckled in reply and read his schedule. “Hnng, we have potions, herbology, anddefenceagainst darkarts together!” he cried out, breaking into a large grin. Kyle smiled back in return, swinging an arm around his shoulders. He shrieked in surprise but eased himself into the arm soon after.

“Kickass, dude!” Kyle yelled, already in a better mood than before. Tweek handed Stan and Kenny his schedule, both boys eyeing it for any classes. They shook their head in defeat after a few seconds. “Sucks that we don’t all have a class together though.”

“It’s because flying got cut from our classes this year. I mean it’s good, right? One less class to go to every day. That leaves time for quidditch!” Stan smiled and Kenny mumbled in agreement. Even Tweek nodded along. Those three were more than excited about quidditch tryouts later in the day. Kyle forced a smile as he listened.

After days of convincing last year, the boys got Tweek to agree on trying out for quidditch. It was obvious that he would make it if he did try out. Though he started off scared like Kyle, he grew into a skilled player ever since the day they all flew. Kyle, on the other hand, remained traumatized because he almost fell. A chill went down his back at the thought of flying.

And it wasn’t just them. It seemed like all of his friends were invested in trying out for quidditch. It was all he heard from his friends were “quidditch this” and “quidditch that”. The only person he knew that wasn’t trying out was Jimmy, but that didn’t change his enthusiasm for the sport. 

“It’s si-simple, Kyle. Just because I can’t p-pl-play the sport doesn’t mean I can’t support it,” the brunette told him back in their dorms the day they came back. “Besides, my friends are out there. I can’t just sit b-back and wait for them. I need to show sup-support.”

Kyle sighed in defeat, watching as his friends discussed the positions they wanted to play. Since the only people he knew were second years, they were all eligible for trying out.  _ That leaves-  _

He turned away from his friends and looked over to a smaller group, near the slytherin table. Ike had left the gryffindor table to talk with other first years, his new friends. He squinted at the group, trying to identify who Ike was talking to. He spotted a girl with pigtails, who’s tall head loomed above others, and a shorter brunette girl, also with pigtails.  

The taller girl smacked the side of Ike’s head, rolling her eyes at something he said. The brunette girl looked shocked by her violent actions but soon burst into a fit of laughter.   _ They’re too far away, need to get closer.  _ With that thought, he sneaked his way away from the gryffindor table to the slytherins.

His friends didn’t seem to notice the redhead walking away, too engrossed in their own conversation. Keeping them in his peripherals, he made his way to the other table, looking out for any reasons why he would be at the slytherin table. He saw a blue chullo in the corner of his eye and grinned, there was his chance. 

“What the fuck, Broflovski?” Craig mumbled to him as he slid next to him, eyes fixed on his brother. “I’m trying to spend my morning in peace. Besides, aren’t all of your troublesome friends over there.” Kyle glanced over to Craig, whose face had annoyance written all over it. 

“Shhh! I’m trying to find out who my brother’s hanging out with! As far as I know, he’s with that redhead that keeps hitting him, what a-”

“That redhead’s my sister, dumbass. What were you going to say about her?” his monotone voice droned, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Kyle swallowed hard, freezing up under his gaze.  _ Remember Kyle, he can use dark magic. He can curse you until you forget who you are.  _ He shook his head, not making eye contact. 

Kyle looked back over to Ike’s group, trying to get his mind off of the encounter he just had. Since he was closer to the group, he was able to identify them. 

Indeed, the tall redhead was Craig’s sister, Tricia, if his memory was correct. Her light hair contrasted her brother’s dark hair, much like Kyle and Ike. He recalled her from the sorting ceremony and how she got sorted into slytherin almost immediately, much like her brother. After getting sorted, she hopped off the stool she sat on and flipped off the remaining first years, grinning as Professor McGonagall yelled after her. 

Then, there was the brunette girl with small dirt marks on her face and a bright smile that Kyle recognized. Karen McCormick. He had heard stories about her from Kenny all school year long last year. It was no surprise when she got sorted into hufflepuff. Tales of her and her acts of kindness around the house were always a topic of conversation with Kenny. And Kyle could easily see it. Her smile brightened up the group. 

Kyle shook his head. Ike’s new friends were a mix of completely different people, all with clashing personalities.  _ Is my brother going to be fine with them?  _ He wordlessly got up from his place next to Craig and made his way back to his friends. 

“Oh and Broflovski?” Craig called out. Kyle turned around to see him flipping him off, but he felt a different vibe to his actions. The same dangerous glint was there. “You or anyone else hurt my sister, and I’ll make you see hell.” 

“Same goes to you, Tucker,” Kyle spat out, glancing over at Ike as he did so. He was staring back at him with wide eyes, nudging Tricia with his elbow. She flipped him off, a reflex that must run in the Tucker family, and sent a look of amusement to Craig.

Huffing, Kyle walked away, eyes fixated on the ground. “What kind of mess did Ike get himself into,” he whined quietly, still feeling Craig’s stare on his back.

* * *

“So, Broflovski,” Red stated, chewing her gum as she kicked her feet up on the desks. The two sat in the back of history class along with Davíd and Kevin. “Why are you coming to me for help for a fight you picked on my cousin?”

Kyle bit his nails nervously under Red’s menacing stare and Davíd’s curious eyes. Kevin glanced at the three every now and then, but mostly kept his focus on a muggle comic book he was reading. 

After getting the threat from Craig, he hurriedly went to his first class, ignoring his friend’s confused voices. The class, thankfully, was mostly empty except for those sitting in the back; Red, Davíd, and Kevin. Seeing that his cousin was there, Kyle flew to where Red sat, asking for advice.

“All I can say is, don’t pick a fight with Tricia. You think Craig’s bad? Well, you haven’t met his sister yet. There’s a reason why I like Trish better than that asshole,” she laughed, tilting her chair back. Kevin gave her a worried glance, advising her not to tilt her chair back too much.

Sighing, Kevin closed his book and turned his full attention to Kyle. “Don’t listen to her. She’s just jealous that your brother gets to spend more time with Tricia that her,” he stated, a small smirk on his face. Hearing this, Red’s face turned scarlet and she hissed at Kevin to shut up. Kyle was afraid that she’ll hex Kevin, assuming that she knew dark magic because of her family, but nothing happened. Red broke into a small smile and started talking with Kevin normally, something about aliens.

Davíd raised an eyebrow at the two and glanced at Kyle. “You good? You look like you just saw your worst nightmare,” he observed. He shook his head in reply, his heart still beating hard from both the Tucker family encounters. 

“Maybe I should learn how to not piss off others,” he muttered out, slamming open his history textbook out of frustration. Davíd gave him a low chuckle, telling him that his new goal was impossible for Kyle.

* * *

After his first day of classes, Kyle headed down to the quidditch stadium, where his gryffindor friends would be for their tryout. His fingers twitched nervously next to him.  _ What would my friends think when I show up just to watch? _

As he got closer to the open stadium, he saw a familiar pair of crutches and a brunette head sitting on the bench near the athletes. “Jimmy!” he yelled out, waving his arms frantically. 

Jimmy lifted his head up, smiling, and waved back, pleased to see his friend. “W-well, Kyle. I didn’t ex-exp-expect to see you here. What changed your pessimistic m-mind?” Kyle flinched, forgetting that Jimmy was the person he had consulted about his friend problems. 

“Uh, you know,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck. “Like you said, it’ll be a dick move not to support your friends, especially on the gryffindor trial day, right?” Kyle wasn’t so sure that Jimmy believed in his reasonings completely, but the brunette gave him a quick nod of approval. Kyle let out the breath of air he was holding and sat next to him, eyeing the students out in the field.

The mass of students was divided into four groups by the positions they wanted to try out for; seeker, chaser, beater, and keeper. Kyle saw Davíd and Red standing next to each other, both by who he recognized as a 7th year chaser that played last year. Christophe stood near a large box, carrying a thick bat, giving Kyle chills.

“Is Ch-Christophe trying out for beater? Of course he’ll f-fucking make it. Those arms he got from d-digging holes will help him for sure,” Jimmy commented, using one of his crutches to point of Christophe’s arms. 

Kyle didn’t see anyone he knew trying out for keeper, who gathered at the far side of the field. Which left the seekers stationed the closest to him and Jimmy. Stan stood in the group, well more of a duo, touching his hat anxiously. Kyle was about to call his name when Madame Hooch walked out with a tall girl, the gryffindor team captain. The students immediately ran towards the two, waiting for their tryout menu.

The first hour of the tryout consisted of simple, basic exercises. They flew laps to test endurance and speed. They flew through obstacle courses to test their broom manhandling. Kyle couldn’t get a good view of this since the captain moved the students to the stadium where they had the most space. 

For the second hour, the captain split the group back into their four original positions, where she could come around to each position personally to see their abilities. She worked in a counterclockwise motion, arriving at the seeker position first. Kyle saw Stan’s eyes widening in shock and fear as she walked towards his group, a clipboard in hand.

The captain began speaking to the two that were trying out for seeker, Stan and a blond boy Kyle never saw before. Probably an upperclassman. The captain seemed to be explaining the skills she was looking for and the exercises they were about to do to test those skills. She then took out a whistle and blew hard, the screeching noise making Kyle cringe.

On that cue, Stan pulled his hat off and flew up high into the air with no hesitation. Kyle saw his usually covered up black hair blowing in the wind as he gained speed. The captain blew her whistle again and he watched as Stan’s body plummeted to the ground. 

Anxiety spiked out within Kyle, fear and panic filling his mind. Stan had his broomstick tip completely faced down, forcing himself to fall.  _ But why? This is too dangerous. No. I can’t see his face. Is he in pain? Is he unconscious? _

“Kyle,” Jimmy started, completely calm despite the situation. “Stop th-thinking so hard. I can almost hear you think. T-That’s part of the tryout. So stop being a p-pussy and cheer on your boyfriend.” Kyle turned to Jimmy, blinking, trying to make sense of his words.

“What do you mean it’s part of the test? He’s going to fucking die! He has too much speed! And he’s not my boyfriend! I’m not gay!” he cried out, standing up to further emphasize his words. Just as he stood up, Stan reached the ground, forcing Kyle to shut his eyes tightly.  _ My best friend is out there, splattered all over the ground. _

He kept his eyes closed for a while, wondering why he wasn’t hearing any screaming after such a grotesque scene. Confused, he slowly opened his eyes towards his raven haired friend. He gasped out to the sight in front of him.

Stan was hovering a few inches from the ground, completely unharmed, with a proud smile on his face. The captain was smiling as well, taking notes on her clipboard. She blew the whistle again, indicating to the other guy to do the same. Kyle saw the same thing occur. The guy flew into the air and plummeted down. But at the very last second before hitting the ground, he pulled the nose of the broomstick up, avoiding injury.

The guy hovered a foot or two above ground, significantly higher than Stan. The captain nodded and briskly told the two to get off their broomsticks. As the two lowered themselves to the ground, she pulled out a small golden ball and began to explain the second test.

“You guys want to try out for seeker, yes? Now, we cannot use actual snitches for tryouts because you may not have the skill to catch it, therefore, leaving the snitch out in the open for days. However, we can use this alternative. This is a golden ball that has been charmed to act the same way a snitch does. But, because it is only a charm, it’ll only stay in the air for three minutes. If you could catch this in three minutes, you pretty much guaranteed yourself a spot on the team,” her last sentence made the two boys’ head perk up, lured in by her words. 

She threw the ball up and told the boys to wait for her cue to start the hunt. Kyle saw Stan gripping his broomstick tightly, sweat dripping from the side of his head. His hair was messed because of the first test, but in a way that Kyle had never seen before. It was messy, yet it was oddly nice to see. His blue eyes looked as though they were glowing, due to the contrast between the light eyes and the raven hair. 

The large screech of the whistle brought Kyle back to reality where the two boys flew off into the air, searching for the ball. He played with the ear flaps on his hat, hoping that Stan would be the one to find it. He could see him flying high and low, searching desperately. His hair was blowing lightly in the wind, covering his crystal blue eyes every once in a while.

Time seemed to be working slower during this second test. Kyle swore it’s been more than three minutes, but the tension was still there. Neither of them was getting close to finding the ball. He watched as the captain sighed and started to bring the whistle up to her lips. 

Suddenly, Stan yelled out some incoherent word, plunging down to the ground and reaching out a hand. The whole field became silent, waiting to see what he had found. He emerged from the ground slowly, hovering just barely above ground. His arm shot up in the air, his hand clenching something tightly.

“I did it! I found the golden ball!” Stan yelled out, hooting. The whole field broke into cheers and applause, congratulating him. Kyle stood up too, jumping up and down in excitement. “Look, Kyle! I fucking did it!”

Kyle’s body froze up as he looked up towards Stan, who had just called him out. His world seemed to go in slow motion as he craned his neck towards the boy. He had a bright smile on his face, a smile that made Kyle oh so happy. His black hair was messy and all over the place, bringing a weird bubbling feeling in the bottom of Kyle’s stomach. His eyes glittered in the sunlight, making them look like small orbs of the ocean. 

Kyle's mouth hung wide as he stared at his friend, dumbfounded. He managed to wave back, which satisfied Stan, and quickly sat back down, heat rising up to his face. He didn’t understand the new feelings he had in his chest and stomach.

“A-are you sure you’re n-not dating Stan?” Jimmy teased, poking Kyle’s cheek. He swatted the hand away, turning his attention to the chasers who were beginning their tests.

“Dude, I’m probably just really happy to see my best friend achieve so much,” he said, grinning, putting a hand on the warm feeling in his chest.

* * *

The results for the new quidditch teams got posted a week later after every house was done with their tryouts. Kyle attended every tryout, eager to cheer his friends on after what happened with Stan. 

Tweek dominated his tests as a chaser, flying faster than any of the other students. He had some close encounters with obstacles because of his twitches, but for the most part, he was owning the tests. He seemed calmer on the broomstick too, going as far as calling it his ‘calm space’.

Kenny, on the other hand, took a more dangerous route. He went to the tryouts claiming that he wanted to play beater. In all honesty, Kyle was worried for him. He was constantly getting hurt last year in flying class, yet he chose the dangerous position. He looked fine during the tests, dodging any stray bludgers that came flying towards him.  _ But would he be fine during actual games? _

Stan was dragging Kyle across campus early in the morning on Saturday, claiming that he needed to see the tryout results before anyone else. “I need to feel the excitement, Kyle! I need this day to be a day I won’t ever forget!”

By the time the two boys made it to the wall with the results posted, there was already a crowd of people, all curious for the new teams. Stan looked disappointed that there were others at the results before him. Kyle laughed at his naive nature. “Of course there’ll be people here already,” he stated, pointing at the results. “You wizards really like quidditch after all.”

Stan pushed his way through the crowd with Kyle not too far behind him, apologizing to the students he pushed out of the way. Kyle sighed, watching his friend make his way through the sea of students. Why they cared so much about the sport, he still didn’t understand. But it made Stan happy and that was all he really wanted to see.

“Kyle! Kyle, come here now!” he heard Stan cry out. Excitement coursed through Kyle’s veins as he moved closer to Stan.  _ Is this good news? _

Kyle knew the answer immediately after seeing the radiant smile on Stan’s face. A smile that could light up an entire town. Kyle felt himself smiling too, obviously affected by the smiling boy in front of him. His eyes traveled away from Stan’s face to the wall behind him, trying to see the names on the team list.

Seeing the list made the smile on his face grow even bigger. He read through each list carefully muttering each name he knew under his breath to double check. “Gryffindor team members: Stanley M. as seeker, Rebecca T. as chaser, Davíd R. as chaser, and Christophe M. as beater. Holy shit, Stan really did become seeker!

“Slytherin team members: Gregory Y. as seeker, Craig T. as chaser, Clyde D. as chaser, and Kenneth M. as beater. There he is! Kenny made it too!

“Hufflepuff team members: Scott M. as seeker, Tweek T. as chaser, and Thomas T. as chaser. Tweek’s part of the team too! I knew Scott would make it!

“Ravenclaw team members: Token B. as seeker, Nichole D. as chaser, and Wendy T. as chaser. Huh, I never really saw Wendy as someone that likes quidditch, but I guess she does!”

Kyle quickly turned back to Stan, who was still staring at the team listings in awe. “I-I did it. I made the fucking team. I fucking did it, Kyle!” he yelled out, crashing into Kyle for a bear hug. At first, he didn’t know what to do. His best friend was hugging him, or was it an embrace? And he wasn’t letting go.

Eventually, Kyle eased into the hug, still not used to the whole hugging culture Stan seemed to have. As he pulled the new star of the gryffindor team closer to him, the same feeling he had while watching tryouts appeared. The warm feeling and the stomach butterflies. He slowly closed his eyes, enjoying the peaceful moment as long as he could.

* * *

The first month of school buzzed passed Kyle. He was jumping from class to class, taking in every little information he could. After finding out that most of his friends, he felt the responsibility of learning as much as he could so he could help his now busy friends.

“I can’t do it, I can’t fucking do it,” Stan muttered to Kyle at the breakfast table. His first quidditch match was scheduled for this morning, pushing the seeker into a spiral of anxiety. Kyle rubbed his back lightly, hoping to relieve the stress he was feeling.

Across the table, Red and Davíd were discussing game tactics, their breakfast barely touched as well. Christophe, on the other hand, was shoving food in his face while gripping his shovel tightly. Why he carried that thing around everywhere was a mystery to everyone, but it seemed to keep him relaxed. 

Kyle turned back to Stan, who was sweating at an unnatural rate. “Hey,” he whispered, trying to get the nouriette’s attention. “Don’t worry, Stan. I went to every practice you’ve had so far and I can swear on my life that you’re the best player out there. You caught the charmed ball at every practice without fail. You’ve got consistency. Have some confidence in yourself. I believe in you.”

Stan’s head slowly rose after hearing those words. He pulled his mouth into a tight smile and nodded, slowly reaching for a toast on his plate. Kyle felt pride in his chest as he watched him eat.  _ I encouraged him. He feels better now because of me. _

The warm feeling bloomed once more in his chest, making his cheeks heat up. He brought his hands up to his scarlet face and held it, taking in the warmth he felt. 

Stan left soon after finishing his toast, called by the team captain. She ushered the team members out of the dining hall. Stan turned back to Kyle one last time, giving him a thumbs up. Kyle’s whole face lit up and he gave him a smile in return, knowing that he’ll do well at the match today.

“H-holy shit, Kyle,” Jimmy exclaimed next to him, wiggling his eyebrows. “You have it so fu-fucking bad for Stan.”

* * *

"And there he is! The new second year seeker for gryffindor team! Stanley Marsh! I know for sure that I’m not the only one that was surprised when all four teams announced their new seeker as a second year student. But rumor has it that Marsh here is different. His father is the one and only Randy Marsh, the one year seeker superstar of the gryffindor team. Now-” the commentary got cut off by Professor McGonagall yelling that what the commentator was saying was irrelevant to the match.

Kyle let out a chuckle as he watched from the packed spectator stands, looking out for Stan flying by. He was currently hovering above everyone else, searching for the golden snitch.

Tweek shrieked next to him, informing Kyle and Kenny that the ravenclaw team was winning by a few points so far, meaning the gryffindor team still had a chance if Stan found the snitch. “Oh jesus, but it’s Tokenon theotherteam! He probably has a fuckingtactic so he would win!” 

Red flew past their stand, holding a quaffle, earning cheers from the gryffindor supporters. She flipped off those who were cheering and made to way to the goal. A bludger flew her way, causing her to lose momentum, eyes widening in fear. 

Christophe quickly flew in front of her, mumbling something as he swung his bat hard, hitting the bludger towards one of the chasers on the ravenclaw team. He gave Red a nod and flew away towards Davíd, who was distracting Wendy from getting to Red. Nichole swooped in behind Davíd, giving his shoulder a tap. He instinctively turned around, leaving Wendy unmarked. Kyle laughed when he heard him yelling profanities on the other side of the field.

Confident after getting support, Red flew to the goal swiftly, pretending to throw the quaffle in the right goal. The keeper fell for the false move and flew to the left, creating an opening for Red. By the time the keeper noticed her tactic, she had already scored a goal. The gryffindor supports grew wild, cheering their asses off.

“Oh? It looks like Marsh is on the move! He has finally moved from his position above others and is now dropping low! Yes! I can make out the golden snitch in front of his outstretched arm!” the commentator yelled out, tearing Kyle’s attention from Red to Stan. Indeed, he was doing the same move from tryouts, plummeting head first. 

The whole stadium grew quiet, everyone fixated on the new seeker. Token was hurriedly flying after Stan, steadily catching up. As the two flew lower and lower, it became harder for those in the raised stands to see.

The tension was thick in the air when the commentator finally spoke up, along with a figure flying up. “And it looks like Stanley Marsh from the gryffindor team has the snitch in his hand! That marks the end of this week’s match, with the gryffindor team as the winner!” he cried out. 

Kyle jumped out from his seat, cheering. Tweek and Kenny did the same, encourage others around them to do the same. By the time the two teams were leaving the field, the whole stadium was cheering; those supporting the gryffindor team out of happiness that they won and those supporting the ravenclaw team out of appreciation of the team’s effort and teamwork.

The three left the stands once the excitement calmed down, ready to greet their friend at the locker rooms. When they made it there, they were disappointed to find Stan already outside the locker rooms. His hair was slightly damp from the showers and he was holding his hat in his hand. He changed out of his quidditch uniform into the casual clothes he wore on the weekends.

Upon spotting his friends, he smiled brightly and ran over to them. Kyle immediately began congratulating Stan, even finding the confidence to pull him into a hug. Stan didn’t hug back at first, surprised that Kyle was the one that initiated the hug. He soon hugged back, happy to see his friend being open to him. 

Stan began rambling about how nervous he felt before the match and how it all went away after he flew up into the air. Tweek and Kenny listened quietly, taking in his advice for their own matches against each other next week. 

Kyle couldn’t help staring at Stan, passionately talking about his first match. Just seeing him so invested in something made Kyle feel a strange happiness.  _ What is this feeling? Maybe I’m just so happy for my best friend that I’m happy. Yeah, that sounds about right. _

“-and I’m telling you! I just saw her and it was like seeing a goddess!” Kyle was immediately dragged out of his thoughts hearing Stan say those words. He listened to what Stan was rambling about, his cheeks slightly pink. 

“You guys know the chaser from ravenclaw, right?” he began, twiddling his fingers. “Wendy Testaburger, I think that’s her name. She flew by me so many times during the match and I swear, I melted when I made eye contact with her. I-I think I have a crush on her.”

Kenny started hooting the moment Stan finished his sentence, telling him he was becoming a man. Tweek yelled, saying that dating someone is too much commitment and pressure. Kyle kept quiet, not able to accept what he was hearing.

He felt as though his world suddenly came crashing down on him. For the past month, he kept having this  _ weird feeling _ around Stan. His chest grew warm whenever he spent time with him and it grew cold when he left. He found himself getting lost in Stan’s eyes whenever they talked, almost drowning in those ocean like orbs. 

Kyle’s mind became completely blank.  _ No, this can’t be happening. No. I-I can’t be falling for a friend. I’m not gay.  _ He tried enforcing these thoughts in his mind, but nothing seemed to be working. The crushing feeling he felt after Stan’s confession couldn’t be masked. 

He excused himself from the group, claiming that he had to take a shit really badly and ran back to the dorms. The faster he ran, the more his repressed feelings surged up. Before he knew it, hot tears ran down his face. 

When he made it to the front of his dorm room, his cheeks were completely wet, eyes dried out from all the tears. Jimmy sat in the room alone, getting up as soon as he saw Kyle’s face. He worriedly made his way over, pulling the redhead into a hug.

Kyle allowed his legs to give out right there, falling to the floor with fresh tears streaming down. “Kyle, wh-what happened?” was all Jimmy could ask.

It took Kyle a while to regain his composure, sitting next to Jimmy. He took a few deep breaths and turned towards Jimmy, eyes lost.

“Jimmy, I think I’m falling for Stan while he falls for someone else.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some feeling development for Kyle in this chapter while Stan seems to have feelings for someone else...
> 
> Thank you guys so much for the support you've given this story so far! This story hit 300 kudos today and I can't thank yall enough for it!
> 
> I hope you guys liked this chapter. I tried to start some of the shippy stuff from this school year :)
> 
> If you guys have any suggestions for what should happen next for how characters should get together please leave a comment and I'll try to incorporate it :)
> 
> Comments about the story or what you want to see in the future in always appreciated!
> 
> Thanks again guys, I love you all!!
> 
> -egg


	13. Let Me Thank You

Tweek noticed the strange shift in dynamics in his small friend group. He was sure everyone in their grade did. It was pretty fucking obvious. 

Kyle avoided talking to Stan one on one, spending more time in the library studying. He always claimed that he had to be the brains of the group now that everybody was playing quidditch. Sure, he always spent too much time in the library or in his room, just studying for his  _ own pleasure _ , but this was different. He was using it as a method of distraction. 

Stan, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice anything. He was his same joking self, talking and acting the same way he did when Kyle was still with them. The only difference between him was the amount of time he spent talking about Wendy Testaburger. The two shared a fair amount of classes together, meaning Stan always had fresh information to tell them. 

In short, it was driving Tweek insane. 

He groaned loudly and slammed his head into the hufflepuff long table, making Scott and Butters, who were sitting next to him, flinch. Thomas yelled from his seat in front of Tweek, almost spilling his glass of orange juice. It was the first time in a while that he had sat with his housemates.

Because of the quidditch match later in the morning, all team members were required to sit with their team, a rule that wouldn’t have bothered him any other day. However, it just so happened to be that today was the hufflepuff versus slytherin match, meaning both Tweek and Kenny couldn’t sit at the gryffindor table. Which also meant that no one would be there to facilitate any conversation between Stan and Kyle. 

Scott gave him a weary look and sighed. “Tweek, what’s up? We have our first quidditch game and you’re clearly stressed from something else,” he said, stabbing his toast. Tweek winced hearing those words.  _ Do I really look thatstressed?  _ He pointed a shaky finger towards the gryffindor table hoping that Scott would understand. He seemed to understand because he grimaced and looked down at his toast. “Oh, they’re still fighting?”

Tweek nodded miserably and let out another shriek. “Hnng, it’s so fuckingawkward in the groupnow! Stan’s always, ack, talkingaboutWendy and Kyle just locks himselfupin the fucking library,” he complained, looking up from the table to where they were sitting. 

The two gryffindors still sat relatively close to each other, just not talking. Kyle was talking and laughing about joke Jimmy told him along with Davíd and Red, a weird combination. Tweek knew that they shared quite a few classes together, forming that strange group.

Stan was spending his breakfast with Christophe, who seemed entertained by Stan. He saw a posh, blond boy walk towards the two, giving the two gryffindors a short wave. Tweek frowned, recognizing the face instantaneously. It was Gregory, the seeker of the slytherin team. 

“Jee, I’m sorry Tweek,” Butters started, biting a corner of his toast. “If I wasn’t in the infirmary all week long I could’ve helped you restore their friendship.” Tweek smiled at his friend. It wasn’t fair that Butters had to guilt trip himself over something that he couldn’t have prevented.

“Don’t, ngh, worryButters. I’msure they’ll fix shit up-” Before Tweek finished his sentence, the hufflepuff team captain stood up and yelled at the quidditch players to start moving. Tweek gave Butters a reassuring grin and grabbed his coffee thermos, carefully unscrewing the lid. The black liquid inside was gleaming under the morning sunlight, waiting to be drunk by him.  

He nodded at Scott and followed the captain out of the dining hall, his heart hammering in his chest. He took a sip of his coffee, looking towards the gryffindor table one last time. He caught Kyle staring towards Stan, in a strange way that he couldn’t explain.  _ Was that heartbreak? _

* * *

The walk to the hufflepuff locker rooms was short and quiet, everyone filled with anticipation for the match coming up. Once the team made it inside the room, some of the older members started telling the new members about their first match. None of them were very encouraging but Tweek knew they had the right intentions. 

Once they were done changing, the captain began talking about their game strategies using a whiteboard. “Remember guys,” he emphasized. “This is just a pre-season game. This match was created so that each team could get a feel for how well their team is doing compared to others. It won’t affect the quidditch cup. However, that doesn’t mean we should slack off.

“Scott, I know this is your first ever game as a seeker and I don’t want to pressure on you. Just relax out there and do what you’ve always been doing. Now, Gregory is going to seem scary with his high tech broomstick. But don’t let that get to you. You’re better than him skill wise. 

“Tweek and Thomas. Professor Sprout told me about your tics and nervous habits, but I really don’t see why it’s a disadvantage. With or without the disabilities, you guys are far more skilled than half the people on opposing teams. And best of all, you guys have the kindest heart. And that’s essential for team play.”

The captain continued his pep talk, encouraging every player about their strengths. Even if it was just a pep talk, Tweek found himself gaining courage from those words. Nobody told him before that his twitches and shrieks would help, especially in a team sport like this. He gripped his broomstick tighter, confidence rushing through him. 

“Hufflepuff team, you have 2 minutes until you go out!” Madame Hooch yelled, poking her head into the locker room. The captain grinned pulling each player into a bear hug. Tweek yelped, not expecting the physical contact.

“Alright guys, let’s get out there and show this school what we hufflepuffs can do.”

* * *

Tweek felt like he was going to lose his mind. The moment he stepped out into the stadium, all of his past confidence ran away from him, leaving Tweek with nothing but anxiety. 

The stands were packed with students from various houses and grades, split into whether they supported hufflepuffs or slytherins. He didn’t see a problem last week when he stood in those stands, but he definitely saw one now. He just wanted everyone in the stands to shut up.

The hufflepuff team walked out into the middle of the field, lining up in a straight line. Tweek stood next to Thomas and the other chaser, a 5th year girl whose name he couldn’t remember. He kept his eyes fixed on the ground, attempting to find his calm space. “It’s okay, Tweek,” he mumbled to himself. “It’s, ack! Going to be fine.”

Thomas shrieked out a line of profanities next to him, biting his nails. His eyes were wide and never focused on anything, flickering from object to object on the field. Tweek put a hand on his shoulder, earning a flinch and a loud “Shit!” from the blond. He turned to him, panicked, but relaxed when he saw that he was trying to calm him down. 

Just as the two hufflepuffs slowly started regaining their sanity, the crowd grew even louder, if that was even possible. Tweek whipped his head up, fear rising within him.  _ Why is the crowd suddenly cheering louder? Or are they screaming because there’samurder? Thisistoomuch pressure!  _

Tweek swallowed hard, spotting the reason for the crowd to lose their minds. The slytherin team had walked in. In their green and silver uniform, they were downright intimidating. The mischievous grin on some of their faces made Tweek want to run. If he were to die today, it was definitely their fault. 

The slytherin team lined up in front of the hufflepuff team, tension arising between the two. Tweek sneaked a glance at their team captain, regretting his decisions immediately when he saw him. The slytherin team captain was a tall guy, his grey eyes glaring down at the hufflepuff team captain. If Tweek were to be under that glare, he would’ve fainted right then and there. 

“Psst! Tweek! It’s me! Clyde!” a voice called out to him, grabbing his attention. Tweek slowly turned in front of him, where Clyde Donovan stood with a soft smile. He looked out of place with the smile on his face when all the others on his team were glaring the hufflepuff team down. “I’m so happy we both made the team! Are you nervous, because I am! I didn’t expect so many people to be out here an-”

“Donovan, are you chatting with the other team?” someone on the slytherin team yelled. This comment caused the slytherin players to laugh mockingly at Clyde. He flinched and looked down, not making eye contact with Tweek. The tension grew even thicker, an awkward silence falling between the teams.

Although Clyde was looking down, Tweek felt another pair of eyes staring through him. He looked around, trying to figure out who was giving him such an intense stare. He made eye contact with a pair of dark eyes, almost black in the shadows of his dark hair. Tweek blinked a few times.  _ Why is this stranger staring at me? Does hewanttokill me?? _

Suddenly, it clicked inside Tweek. It was Craig! Without his usual blue chullo on his head, he could barely tell who it was. His hair was dark and messy without the chullo and it was starting to become a bit long. Still, that didn’t give him an excuse to stare at him like this. 

He was staring right through Tweek as if analyzing him. Tweek swallowed hard, guilt building up. When was the last time he talked with Craig? Weeks? No, it was months. He hasn’t been around the nouriette ever since Cartman’s ginger incident. Ever since he told Tweek that he was capable of using dark magic. 

After witnessing Craig’s dark magic first hand along with his confession, he was scared. Craig himself was already intimidating enough and adding dark magic to that mix terrified him. When he first told him, he wanted to scream. He wanted to run as far away as possible and never interact with the raven haired boy ever again.

But seeing facial expression after his confession changed something in Tweek. For the first time, he was able to see Craig’s eyes clearly, a pair of dark green eyes. And they were filled with pain and regret.  _ How can someone who’s in so much pain be evil? Was dark magic that bad? I mean it saved Kyle’s ass from being sacrificed to some pagan god by Cartman. _

That thought was all Tweek needed to get motivated. He started his research, trying to find anything he could about dark magic. But all the books in the library stated the same fact, dark magic was evil and no one should ever associate themselves with it. There was no lore for him to work off of. Just adults claiming that dark magic was the worst kind of magic to ever be created.

He didn’t want to believe that. What he wanted to believe was that Craig was innocent. He wanted to believe that he would never use dark magic for evil. He never did anything bad to Tweek either. He always helped him, even though they barely knew each other. 

So, he took the next best option, ask another slytherin about dark magic. If what Stan said was correct, every slytherin should know about dark magic. 

Tweek later confronted Kenny at the infirmaries, in attempt to figure out even a smallest different detail about dark magic.

“Look, Tweek. I get you’re curious about it, believe me, I was curious for the longest time too. But you can’t mess with that shit. It destroys your humanity!” Kenny told him, exasperated. And with that, Kenny turned away from him, claiming that he needed ‘beauty sleep’. 

For the next week, Tweek followed Kenny around, asking for the real origin of dark magic. Why everyone hated dark magic. Why some people could use dark magic and others could not.

By the end of the week, Kenny spilled the beans, telling him everything about dark magic. The missing artifact called the Stick of Truth. The powers the stick brought on wizards. The creation of dark magic. But even after hearing all of that, Tweek was confused. That didn’t explain why dark magic was forbidden when it was awfully convenient. 

Tweek looked over at the staring boy once again. Ever since Kenny had told him the origin story, Craig started avoiding him, ignoring him in every class they had together. Something told Tweek that Craig must’ve heard or used his  _ dark magic  _ to find out that Tweek had been snooping around.  _ He mustbe pissed. That’s why he’s staringatme! He’s goingtokill me at the fuckingquidditchmatch! _

He let out a small whimper and gripped his broomstick tightly. Maybe he was wrong about Craig. Maybe he actually was a common user of dark magic that cursed any twitchy blonds that got on his nerves. 

A voice on the intercom suddenly called out for all players to mount their broomsticks, scaring the shit out of Tweek. He was glad to finally be able to escape the tension filled ground into the open sky. 

“It’s going to be okay. Just like practice, just like practice,” he muttered to himself. He took in a deep breath and adjusted himself on the broomstick. Tweek closed his eyes, blocking out the cheering. When he opened them again, he knew he was ready to play, positioning himself in the quidditch playing headspace.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle and the 14 players on the field all took off at once, kicking off the ground. Tweek flew higher faster than anyone around him, reaching for the quaffle that was tossed up into the air. His hand fumbled the air for the red ball, eyes blinded by the bright sunlight. 

He let out a gasp as his fingers grasped the round ball, a proud feeling blossoming. “Well, well, well. It looks like Twitch over there is the first one to get the ball, a tad bit disappointing,” said the commentator, whose voice was clearly different from last week’s game. Tweek looked over at the commentator stands, eyes widening as he did so. There was a fat slytherin boy lounging in the commentator room.  _ Eric fucking Cartman. _

“Tweek! Over here!” the chaser girl called out. Shaking his head, Tweek threw the ball over to her before Craig flew in intercepted it. The crowd grew wild at his pass, cheering as the chaser girl flew to the goals and scored a goal.

“Aw, come on guys! You just let the hufflepuffs get a point? Let’s go slytherins!” Cartman sneered over the intercoms. Tweek gritted his teeth and flew up to where Scott and Thomas were.

“Is Cartman really the fucking commentator for this match?” Scott growled out, eyes wide open for the snitch. Thomas shook his head and looked down, watching as Clyde flew away with the quaffle.

“Fuck! We can’t do, cock! Anything knowing that Cartman’s, shit! Going to make fun of us for it,” he hissed out, ducking as a bludger flew past his head. He glared at the opposing team beater that hit the bludger over, who happened to be Kenny, and flipped him off. 

The crowd roared with excitement once more, getting the attention of the three upset hufflepuffs. They turned to their goal, only to see Clyde flying around, screaming in happiness. Tweek clicked his tongue nervously, finally remembering that they were in a middle of a game. 

“We, nghh, can’t let that get toourminds though. Ack! We’re in a middleofa fucking game. Hnnng, this is toomuch pressure!” he yelped and flew away from the group, watching the other chaser. She obtained the quaffle from their keeper and was trying to keep the slytherin chasers away from her.

Her eyes frantically looked around the field and settled on Tweek, giving him a signal. He nodded briskly and fell into position, just like they practiced. She taunted the chaser in front of her, waving the quaffle in his face. The slytherin chaser growled lowly, inching closer and closer to her. She quickly moved left, only to move back right immediately, completely catching the other chaser off guard. 

Tweek reached out to the hufflepuff chaser as she tossed the quaffle in his direction. The red ball fell into his hands, a weight familiar to him from practice. He took off the moment the quaffle fell into his grasps, towards the slytherin goal. The other players chased after him but got intercepted by the bludgers knocking into them.

With the help of his teammates, he made it to the goal in no time and threw the ball in, the keeper distracted by the bludger’s relentless attacks. Tweek felt pride rising within him, the adrenaline of scoring his first official goal coursing through his veins. 

He pumped a fist in the air as the stands grew wild, cheering him on. “I did it, I fucking did it! I scoredagoal!” he screamed. He heard Scott and Thomas yelling at him from across the field, also proud of Tweek for his accomplishment. 

But he knew he couldn’t stay elated for long. There was a game still going on. He tried his best to ignore Cartman’s degrading commentary and observed the slytherin’s next movements. The third slytherin chaser held onto the quaffle, his eyes scanning the field carefully. He started to fly towards the other side of the field with the Kenny flying nearby. 

Suddenly, Tweek saw a blur of blond fly by him, yelling out curse words as he did so. He grinned, knowing exactly what was happening. Thomas was executing plan ‘Distract and Steal”. He flew towards the slytherin chaser, stopping right before he crashed, grinning. The slytherin chaser stared right back at him, shocked and unable to move. 

“Fuck! Pay better attention next time!” he called out and stole the quaffle from him. The slytherin chaser reached out to Thomas, but it was too late. He was already on his way to the goal. 

Tweek relaxed on his broomstick, his heart warm as he watched his friend fly by, ready to score a goal. Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught a moving figure. Kenny was stalking Thomas, bat in hand, motioning to the other slytherin beater to pass the bludger his way.

Gritting his teeth, Tweek made his way to Kenny, millions of thoughts rushing through him. He knew going anywhere near a beater during the game was dangerous. They swung their bat around ruthlessly and they willingly flew near bludgers to prevent goals. But Tweek wanted Thomas to score this goal.

Picking up all of his courage, he sneaked behind Kenny, waiting for his chance. Kenny was still motioning to his teammate, who finally seemed to understand his gestures. The other beater prepped her bat into a swinging position as she spotted the bludger flying towards her. 

“Ngh, I’m sorryKenny!” Tweek cried out and slammed his body into Kenny’s. The slytherin screamed, losing balance on his broomstick for a second. He quickly rolled over to the side, clutching his bat, as the bludger flew towards him. He glared over at Tweek with the sounds of the beater girl yelling in the background.

Tweek felt guilty, but that guilt disappeared as soon as he heard the crowd yell in excitement. He turned his head to the goal where Thomas has successfully scored a shot. Kenny’s eyes flicker over to the goals and he sighed, shaking his head. He seemed to understand why Tweek pushed him. 

“Don’t think you’re getting away with this!” Kenny hollered and flew away, bat ready for the bludger this time. Tweek grinned at the figure flying away, a new wave of energy surging through him.

* * *

The game continued on, neck to neck, with neither team getting close to finding the snitch. Both Gregory and Scott flew high and low searching for the golden snitch, but it was no use. The snitch just wasn’t appearing. 

Tweek scored a few points during this time, which was a lot more than he had expected. He was starting to see the slytherin’s tactic, which was mostly offence and not enough defense. That made it easier for Tweek to find open spots to score. 

He knew that both the crowd and players were starting to become agitated from the never ending game with no clear lead. The players were becoming reckless, flying in dangerous ways that Madame Hooch would’ve never permitted if she wasn’t busy yelling at Cartman for his inaccurate commentary. 

His commentary was far from staying neutral, only making positive comments about the slytherins. He made sure to call out every flaw he saw for the hufflepuff team, even going as far as releasing personal information about the older players that he somehow knew. 

Tweek thought back to what Kyle said last year about Cartman knowing information about people that were never exposed. He felt a chill go down his back.  _ What could Cartman possibly know about him?  _ That one thought was enough to get him riled up. He gripped his broomstick tightly and hoped that a bludger would “accidentally” fly into the commentary stands.

“Oh! What is this? It seems to me that the diabetic douch- I mean Scott has found the snitch! The boy is currently flying up, chased by our dear seeker Gregory. But will he have enough energy to keep flying? Oh no, no, Professor McGonagall. I’m not making fun of Scotty boy over there. I’m simply worried about him and his horrible diabetes!” Cartman whined into the intercom, earning some laughs from the student stands.

A small argument could be heard from the speakers as Professor McGonagall yelled at Cartman for being disrespectful to the players. Cartman yelled back that he was just doing his job and providing the necessary information about each players.

Tweek felt his eye twitch listening to their interactions. Sighing he turned his attention back to the two seekers, filled with anticipation for the game results. The whole field seemed to have stopped moving, every player hovering still to watch the two seekers.

Scott was still inches higher than Gregory, just a few feet away from the snitch. But Gregory wasn’t giving up just yet. He pulled the nose of his broomstick even higher, gaining momentum as he closed the distance to Scott. 

But Scott was still faster. His hand curled around the golden snitch, marking the end of the game and the winner of today’s match. Tweek let a loud cheer bellow out, happiness rushing through him. It was a feeling of achievement that he never had before in his life. A result he got from his hard work at practice. 

His ears then picked up a noise, a noise that sounded like someone was saying his name. He looked around for a moment but quickly disregarded it, too busy cheering for his team to care.  _ It’s my first win, I can be as happy as I want. _

“Tweek! Watch out for tha-” the voice calling out to him didn’t finish. Before Tweek realized what was happening, he felt air being knocked out of his lungs. He looked down to see a stray bludger burying itself into his chest. He fumbled with his broomstick, unable to fight back the momentum of the bludger. 

Panic replaced the happiness he felt.  _ What’s happening!? Am I goingtodie?  _ He watched as everything around him became slowed down, the view around him collapsing. His life was flashing through his mind as he saw the sky growing further and further away from him with his broomstick floating in the air above him. Was he falling?

The cheers in the stands became screams of uncontrollable terror. Yet no one was coming to help him.  _ Maybe I can’tget help. Am Idonefor?? Is this whatdeathfeels like? _

“God dammit, Tweek! You better fucking stay with me!” a nasally voice interrupted his thoughts. It was the same voice that helped him through his panic attack last year. A voice he knew by heart at this point. His eyes searched for the familiar blue cloth that he saw back then, only to feel disappointed when he saw none.

Tweek couldn’t tell if he was still falling or if the savior was slowing him down. The only thing he knew was that the same voice was there with him again, when he was at his worst. 

When he looked up again, he didn’t see the sky anymore. Instead, he saw a mass of black hair and deep green eyes that reminded him of the forest. He reached up to touch the boy’s face, wanting to see more of the green eyes. 

But the moment he touched the boy’s face, the eyes turned a threatening purple color. The same purple color he saw when Craig used dark magic to change Cartman into a brunette last year. Fear filled Tweek’s brain, suddenly turning off the slow motion sensation he had. 

He was now acutely aware of the speed he was falling at, feeling the wind on his back. Tweek thrashed in air, knowing that he was growing closer and closer to the ground.  _ Oh god, I wasright. Craig is goingto fucking killme! _

The thrashing only made Craig’s grip on him grow tighter. He yelled out some foreign language, just like the last time they interacted, and Tweek felt his body slowing down once more. The edges of his vision began to darken as he felt the soft impact of falling to the ground. 

“Don’t you fucking dare do that again, asshole,” Craig muttered and that was the last thing Tweek heard before blacking out.

* * *

Tweek’s eyes snapped open and he thrashed on the bed he was laying on, the bright light attacking him. He closed his eyes immediately, shielding them from the light as he heard sounds of chairs scraping around him.  _ Am I dead?? Is thisheaven? Or maybeit’s hell.  _

“Tweek! Oh thank god you’re alive!”

“Don’t move! Your body is still broken and-”

“Shhh! Just let him do what he wants, Kyle.”

Slowly, he cracked open his eyes, adjusting to the light. Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Butters sat around him, all with matching relieved smiles on their face. Tweek tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Kyle.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he sighed, tapping his chest. “You got hit with the bludger straight on the chest. I don’t fucking know why no one got the bludgers back in the boxes when the game ended or why the slytherin beater hit it your way, but regardless of the reason it hit you.”

Kenny pushed his hood back, revealing a tight frown. “Three fractured ribs, almost punctured your lung. You could’ve died if Craig didn’t cushion your fall,” he muttered, fiddling with his fingers.  _ Why did he look so nervous?  _ His statement left a sour note in the air, as if what he said was forbidden. 

“Oh hamburgers, Tweek. We all saw it happen, we saw if use  _ it, _ ” Butters mumbled, putting his head in his hands. Tweek stared back at the blond boy, not understanding what he was talking about. His friends all avoided eye contact with him, looking down. His fingers began to twitch, irritated by the way they were acting. 

“Ngh, whatareyou guys even talkingabout? You’renot, agh, making any sense. What did Craigfuckingdo? What was thepurple light I saw?” Tweek asked, irritation building up from the lack of answer he was getting. He needed answers, not vague understanding of the situation. 

Stan looked up, finally making eye contact with him. His eyes were filled with fear and regret, two emotions he didn’t expect to see from him. “Tucker used dark magic to cushion your fall. The purple light is an indicator of dark magic. Can you fucking believe him? He used dark fucking magic to help you! What if he lost control and he-”

“The problem here isn’t that he used dark magic, it’s how you’re taking it!” Kyle yelled, knocking his chair over as he stood up abruptly. “He  _ saved  _ Tweek and you’re still acting like Craig’s the big bad wolf of this situation. He used dark magic, but it was quick and convenient to use in a situation like that! What part of that can’t you understand!?

“Ever since your little crush on Wendy all you ever do is talk about her as if nothing else in the fucking world mattered! You never stopped to realize that Butters was in the infirmary with a concussion. You never stopped to think of even the smallest possibility that Craig was just trying to help, you selfish asshole!” he cried out and stormed out of the room. Tweek swore he saw a few teardrops fall from his face his he left the room.

Kyle’s outburst left an uncomfortable silence in the infirmary, an unbearable one if you asked Tweek. Stan stood up wordlessly and left, the silence crushing him. The two were most likely heading opposite directions, never to talk again for a while.

“The quidditch match made their relationship worse, I’m sorry. We couldn’t do anything about that. It might just be best to let down spend time away from each other. 

“And I need to apologize to you too, Tweek. I always saw Craig’s magic and his background as evil, but he was just trying to help. Heck, his sister is best friends with my sister and she can use dark magic too. Yeah, it’s fucking scary and I hate talking about it. He has the power to just strip you of your sanity at his hands constantly. But he doesn’t use it for evil. He’s not like other dark magic users. We understood that today, just not Stan,” Kenny confessed. 

The confession lifted some of the tension that formed after Stan and Kyle’s argument, making it easier for Tweek to breathe. Butters looked relieved that someone spoke up since the tension seemed to be choking him too. 

“I need, gah! To thankhim,” Tweek declared, a small warmth blooming in his chest. Butters and Kenny looked at each other and gave him a bright smile. As broken as their group had become, their contagious smile hadn’t changed. 

“Yeah, I think he’ll like that a whole bunch,” Butters exclaimed, looking out the infirmary window. Tweek stared at his two remaining friends and noticed something. Butters was smiling at him for his declaration. Kenny, on the other hand, was looking at Butters, not Tweek.

He smiled softly, watching the two blonds sit in comfortable silence. There was definitely something there that Kenny wasn’t telling him.

* * *

Tricia leaned on the doorframe as she smirked at her brother who was currently pacing from one side of his room to the other. Clyde grinned from where he sat on his bed, clearly entertained by the sight. Token just wanted Craig to stop moving so much. Jimmy wanted him to grow some balls.

“Did I fuck up? I think I fucked up,” he kept muttering and Tricia let out a howl of laughter. Her brother was truly useless in situations like this. “Trish, you better shut your fucking mouth before I-”

“Do what, hm? You’re as useful as a fucking twig right now, Craigory,” she teased, looking down at her fingers. “I thought you were done with dark magic, but the purple light I saw says otherwise. So what changed your mind?”

“It’s simple if you ask me,” Clyde spoke up, getting off of his bed. Craig jumped on him before he could finish his sentence, earning complains from Tricia. “Ow, god dammit, Craig! Just fess up, it’ll be easier!” 

“W-well, you’ve left quite an impression o-on him if you ask me. Are you trying to be Pr-prince Charming? Because you’re too m-much of an asshole to be him,” Jimmy chuckled and Craig sent a glare over to his direction.  _ He’s not wrong.  _

The slytherin dorm door suddenly opened, sending Tricia onto the floor with a grunt. She cursed out to Kenny who decided to go back to his dorms at that moment.  He took a glance at her and gave her a small wave, turning his full attention to Craig, smirking. 

“Well, well Craig, it seems to me that someone has a teeny tiny crush on my dear friend,” he pestered, leaving the stoic boy panicked.  _ How did he-, why does he of all people know? Did the information get released somehow or? _

“Whoa, don’t panic. I was just outside the dorm door for a while, heard everything. Don’t worry, my mouth is shut tightly, I think. Anyway, don’t try to do anything because I come here bearing a small plan if I may say,” Craig lowered his wand and raised his eyebrows, intrigued by what McCormick was saying.

“What exactly are you planning, Kenny?” Token piped up, also curious about this so called plan. Kenny grinned and raised both hands in the air, gesturing wildly. 

“I call this plan ‘Operation Get Tweek Tweak to Fall in Love with Craig Tucker’.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh another chapter this week!! I was on break this week so I tried updating as much as possible to make up for the late updates before.
> 
> I might not be able to update as frequently now because of school and finals coming up, sorry :(
> 
> Anyway, I hope yalls liked this chapter! I tried throwing in some creek and background bunny elements in this chapter! Seems like creek is developing this year ;) Style, on the other hand, well it could be worse.
> 
> Thank you guys for the encouraging comments the last chapter even if it wasn't my best creation. It really got me motivated to get this chapter out. 
> 
> What do you guys want to see next? If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment below!
> 
> Like always, ideas ships you want to see in the future or specific scenes you would like to see are always welcome! Just leave a quick comment and I'll see what I can do :)
> 
> Again, hope you guys like this chapter! Love you guys <3
> 
> -egg


	14. Dining Tables

Craig Tucker was known for many things. 

A monotonous asshole. A second year slytherin and chaser. Red Skeeter’s cousin. A dark magic user. The son of Thomas Tucker. All of these were names he was familiar with, the names people knew him as. Those names also became the reason why no one wanted to approach him, separating Craig from everyone else.

No matter how hard he tried, no one would be able to change their first impression of him. So he simply gave up on trying. If people were to hate him for who they thought he was, that was fine. As long as he had his small group of friends. 

Yet there Kyle Broflovski stood, in front of his dorm room door, carrying his astronomy textbook and notes on a Sunday afternoon. He was dressed in his casual clothes, which were still more formal than anything Craig owned. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as Craig frowned at him.

He was enjoying a peaceful sleep and was ready to do absolutely nothing all day long since all his friends were busy. Clyde and Jimmy had detention with McGonagall all afternoon while Token had quidditch practice. It was one of the few days Craig had to sleep in and do whatever the fuck pleased him without his roommates bugging him.

But all of that got ruined by Kyle Broflovski rudely interrupting his sleep with his too loud knocks. How he even got inside the slytherin common room was a mystery that he couldn’t bother to ask. 

“I need help with astronomy,” he finally spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence between the two boys. Hearing this, Craig let out a loud snort, making the redhead scowl.

“You? Need  _ my  _ help? Sorry, Broflovski, but I don’t tutor. Go ask one of your asshole friends, or are they too useless?” he sneered and sat back down on his bed. He was acutely aware of how much Kyle hated his friends getting insulted and used that to his advantage. The sooner he got the gryffindor to leave, the happier he’ll be.

However, Kyle stayed in the room and walked closer to him. Craig raised an eyebrow at him, who didn’t look even the slightest offended by his comments. He crossed the room to sit on Clyde’s bed, across from Craig. 

“I know you hate me, but I really need help with this. And my friends aren’t the most reliable. They’re too busy practicing for quidditch anyway. Besides, I have an offer that you can’t deny,” Craig’s ears perked up that his words.  _ An offer I can’t deny? _

Curious, he leaned in towards Kyle and gestured at him to continue talking. He rolled his eyes and reached into his bag, pulling out a paper bag. He handed the bag to Craig, who opened it immediately. 

“Craig, it’s three in the afternoon right now. You slept through breakfast and lunch. Probably would’ve slept even more if I didn’t come wake you up. So, I brought you food and I will continue bringing you food and you can sleep for as long as you want  _ if  _ you help me with astronomy,” Kyle finished. Craig raised his eyebrows, sniffing the contents of the bag. He had brought him a few toasts, a muffin, an apple, and a cup of yogurt. 

_ It’s not a bad deal. I won’t have to leave my room all day long.  _

Craig took a bite of the muffin Kyle brought, smirking. “Not bad, Broflovski. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

* * *

 

"I’m just saying! It’s not logical-”

“From when was magic logical, Broflovski?”

“You know what I meant,” Kyle scowled, flipping through his notes aggressively. Craig stared at him, amused, and looked through his own notes. Compared to Kyle’s notes, his were like chicken scratch. Words jumped from one part of the paper to another, doodles filling the margins. 

He looked over at Kyle’s notes, written in neat black ink. His notes were organized, each section divided clearly by arrows and shapes. Even his margins were doodle free. But even with those godly notes, he was struggling with astronomy.  _ Probably because it’s not something he’s used to.  _

Their astronomy professor spent the whole first year teaching the muggle side of astronomy, the basics that both wizards and muggles know. That bit was a relatively easy process for everyone. Just a lot of memorization. But starting the second year, Professor Gwen changed his focus to the wizarding side of astronomy, which featured magic. Starting with the nature of horoscopes and how they can affect your fortunes and going as far as the creation of stars. 

“You can’t just make stars!” Kyle yelled, for the 12th time, not even an hour into their study session. “No wizard is powerful enough to do that!” 

“Where do you think you muggles got the idea that the dead become stars?” Craig asked, started to become agitated by Kyle’s constant complaints. “Besides, it’s not a hard process. Plenty of people do it every year. Even your dumbass friend Marsh could do it.”

The air around the two seemed to shift the moment those words left his mouth. Kyle visibly stiffened, clearly uncomfortable by Craig’s words. His face churned into a tight frown and then an unreadable expression that almost looked like a loss. His hands gripped his notes tightly, slightly crumpling the paper. 

Craig scratched his neck, realizing that he had hit a trigger for Kyle. Though the two weren’t close, he began to feel regret for his words. Then, something nudged his hand and he looking down, finding his prized possession. Stripe, his guinea pig, squeaked quietly and nudged his hand again as if he was telling him to apologize to Kyle for what he said. His beady eyes stared into him, urging him on.  _ I can’t say no to Stripe.  _

Sighing, he slid the astronomy textbook off his lap and moved closer to Kyle. He had his head hung low, hiding his face from Craig. He heard faint sniffling as he got closer and-  _ wait is Broflovski crying? _

“Look, Broflovski, I’m not good with words and-” his words faltered, proving what he just said to be true. He looked back at his textbook, where Stripe was nibbling on the front cover. He turned back to the redhead and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry that was a dick move. I know you and Marsh has some shit going on right now and honestly, he’s being a fucking douchebag about it-”

“Being a fucking douchebag? Damn right he is! He can’t even look at us anymore. All he wants to do is look at Wendy, talk about Wendy, hang out with Wendy. It’s as if we don’t fucking exist anymore!” he exploded, rage taking over. Craig’s jaw hung open at his sudden outburst and he reached out a hand towards Kyle, trying to calm him down. He simply swatted the hand away, growling.

“We were replaced by him, just like that! Do you how fucking frustrating that is? You complain about Clyde not shutting up about Bebe, but at least he still talks to you guys. Stan cut us off so he can talk with Wendy. Do you know how fucking painful it is, seeing your former best friend waltz around with someone else with a brighter smile? It fucking hurts! I just- I-” his voice suddenly became weaker as if he realized something. His eyes drooped to the ground once again, fingers curling into a tight fist. 

Kyle remained silent after that, staring blankly at the floor. Craig could only watch as tears flowed down his cheeks. “I miss him, Craig,” he whispered. 

Craig grabbed Stripe off the ground and carried him over to Kyle. He set the small animal on his lap, nudging him towards the guinea pig. He looked up at him with puffy red eyes, cocking his head to the side. Craig never let anyone touch Stripe, claiming that no one was good enough for him. “He always makes me feel better,” he shrugged. “Maybe your Jew ass might feel better after cuddling him.”

Kyle stared back at him in disbelief and burst into a fit of laughter, tears from laughing replacing his previous sad ones. Craig felt his face flush with embarrassment as he continued to roll on the floor, clutching his stomach. “You suck ass at comforting, Tucker.”

Craig groaned and flipped him off, flopping onto the floor. Relief spread through him as he saw Kyle wipe his tears and picked up Stripe in his hands. Though the two started off almost despising one another, he had to admit, after a month of tutoring him, he was enjoying his company. He was even starting to look forward to their Sunday study sessions. Something about the hotheaded gryffindor stuck out to Craig as something he lacks in his life. 

“You know, Broflovski,” he began before he knew it. “You’re not that bad. Actually, your friends excluding Marsh aren’t that bad either.” 

“Ha! I told you so!” Kyle yelled back, a large grin plastered on his face. The effect of their previous conversation was nowhere to be seen. He was back to his usual self. 

Craig grunted softly and turned over, eyes catching the clock.  _ Almost dinner time.  _ “Hey, what do you think about sitting with us for dinner today? Our table’s the furthest from the Ravenclaw table so you won’t have to see him,” he suggested.

“You- you would let me do that?” Kyle asked back, nervous. He shrugged back in reply. He had no problems inviting Kyle to the slytherin table and neither would his friends. If the rest of his house had problems with it, they would have to face Craig. He made sure they knew that when they first picked on Jimmy for sitting at their table.

“Fuck yes, dude!”

* * *

 

Craig’s friends didn’t even bat an eyelash when Kyle sat down next to him awkwardly. Jimmy waved at him enthusiastically, saying that the table was lacking some red and gold so he was glad Kyle came. He blushed hearing that, a large smile growing on his face.

Clyde grabbed a forkful of food and shoved it all into his mouth as he started a conversation with Kyle. He splattered sauce all over his lips and the plate in front of him, earning a look of surprise and disgust from Kyle. Token immediately gave him a look and told him to finish eating first. 

“M-mama Token st-strikes again, eh?” Jimmy chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows. “So, what brings you here, K-kyle?” Craig swallowed hard. There it was, the question he was dreading the whole walk to the dining hall. He was never the one for inviting people to sit at their table for any occasion.

Kyle slowly lowered his spoon and set it down, shrugging. “I mean Craig’s been helping me with astronomy lately and-”

He never got to finish his sentence, for Clyde decided that it was at that exact moment he joined the conversation. “Wait! Is Craig helping you with  _ astronomy?  _ Craig! This is bullshit! When I asked you for help all you did was tell me to go fuck myself!” 

He pouted and glared at Craig, which was as effective as throwing cotton balls at someone. He was glad that his friends didn’t give two fucks who he brought over or who he became friends with. “Kyle came up with an effective plan that both of us would benefit from. Your dumbass brain can’t do that, Clyde”

“Of course I could! What exactly is Kyle doing anyway that makes him oh so special?”

“He lets me sleep in over the weekend and then brings me food to my bed,” he stated bluntly, shutting Clyde up immediately. He knew that there was no way Clyde could top that. He made sure that every weekend he would wake up the ravened hair boy at seven in the morning so they could ‘hangout’, even though they did that every day. 

Clyde turned his pout to Token, sensing his defeat. Token didn’t bother to look at the brunette, stabbing his salad in a bored manner. “You know, Clyde. Maybe if you actually spent astronomy listening to the professor and not staring at Bebe you would know what’s happening in class.”

Token’s comment made the entire group, excluding Clyde, erupt into laughter. Jimmy snorted, half choking on the pasta he was eating. Kyle was covering his mouth, attempting to conceal his laughter and failing miserably. Craig cracked a grin as well, causing Clyde to lunge at him. 

“Clyde! Fuck off!” he yelled as he toppled off his chair from Clyde’s tackle. The two fell onto the floor with Clyde on top. Craig pushed and cursed at him, but nothing seemed to be working. He wouldn’t budge. “You fatass! It’s all the fucking tacos you eat!”

“I’m not getting off until you promise to help me with astronomy!” he declared, crossing his arms. Groaning, Craig let his neck relax, causing his head to rest on the floor.  _ I really don’t want to tutor another person. _

He was about to whip out his wand to levitate Clyde off when he caught Kyle’s eyes. He was grinning and laughing about something Jimmy said. It was the brightest he’s seen him all month long. Token was trying to get the two to calm down so they could help get Clyde off of Craig but he also seemed to be enjoying himself. 

_ Tutoring can’t be that bad if I get to spend more time with them. _

“Urgh, fine, Clyde. I’ll tutor your dumbass, now get off of me. I can’t feel my fucking legs,” Craig found himself saying. Clyde smiled brightly at him and bounded his way back to the table, happily stuffing his face once again.

* * *

 

The rest of dinner continued on peacefully, with minimal yells from Clyde. Kyle looked like he was starting to enjoy himself at the new table. He joined the group’s conversation every now and then but spent most of his time listening to everyone else.

After his plate became empty, Craig wordlessly stood up, earning confused stares from his friends. “And you-” Token began in his mom voice. “Where do you think you’re going, just leaving in the middle of dinner like this?”

“Library,” he stated, tapping his foot irritatedly on the ground. Token kept his gaze on him, making sure that he didn’t run off. Surprisingly, Clyde seemed to have gotten his message and urged Craig to go on. 

“Well if you’re going, you better leave soon. Don’t want any of the teachers to give you another detention,” he added, waving as Craig left. He made a mental note to thank him when he came back.

He began walking to the library, almost reluctantly, even though he chose to leave at such an early time. It wasn’t that Craig didn’t like the library. He liked the place. It was always quiet and peaceful, two things that his life seem to always lack. From as long as he could remember, Craig was at the library, reading different books. That was how he learned about space and dark magic. The dark magic part was easier. There were plenty of books back at home about it and reading about it came easier to him. 

But the bad part about the school library was that, unlike the library back at home, there was always someone in there. Which meant that he couldn’t do what he wanted to do without someone catching him. Especially because Damien seemed to be there every Tuesday and Thursday.

Ever since first year, the boy would sneak off to the library in the middle of the night and look cures for his curse, attempting to brew a potion to reverse it. He even consulted Craig about it one day, claiming that he should know something since it was dark magic. He denied the claim immediately, calling Damien an idiot for even thinking that he could reverse a curse that powerful. Craig woke up the next morning in a flaming bed.

What was even worse was that Damien now had a friend who followed him everywhere. Pip, he thought his name was. The blond boy went anywhere he went to and probably followed him to the library too. Why Damien would even trust that boy with a secret that big, he didn’t understand. But he knew for sure that he didn’t go to the library on Sundays, which meant that the blond wasn’t there either.

By the time he made it to the library, many students were leaving it, each carrying books of their choice to read back in the dorms. The only kids left were those who procrastinated on their research papers until last minute.  _ Perfect. Everyone’s distracted. _

Craig snuck his way around each bookshelf, pretending to be browsing the books in the back. He made sure to keep an eye on the main area of the library as he did so. Slowly, he made his way towards the restricted books section. 

That area of the library was extremely dusty, filled with books that were more than 3 three times his age. Dangerous titles filled the shelves, tempting Craig to pick them up and leave the room with them. He gritted his teeth and maneuvered his way deeper until he got to an area he was familiar with.

He took a brief look around the room and pulled out his wand after checking no one was around him. He opened his mouth and let the foreign language of dark magic slide off his tongue. With every phase that came up, he felt more powerful, like he could do anything. He gripped his wand tighter and watched the bookshelves glow a faded purple. One by one, the books began to rearrange itself so the books that Craig was looking for were the closest to him. 

His eyes scanned the title of each book and grinned. He found all the books he needed.  _ Why are these books even in this section to begin with? They’re useful yet the school prohibits us from reading them. _

Craig pulled out each book carefully off of the shelves and spoke in the foreign language once more. Instantaneously, the books he picked out disappeared, transporting themselves to his room. He wiped the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead and readjusted his hat, sneaking back to the main part of the library, looking as nonchalant as possible.

He gave the librarian a small wave and walked to the other bookshelves, where the astronomy books were. His legs moved slightly faster, anticipation seeping out of him. His eyes scanned each shelf, more carefully than they did back in the restricted section, for the book he longed for.

He let out a tiny gasp as he spotted it, a few feet away from him. He had been looking for the book for a month now and it was finally back on the shelves.

Excited, Craig practically skipped over to the shelf, reaching an arm towards it. But his arm wasn’t the only one reaching for it. His hand brushed against another, causing electricity to shoot through it. He pulled his hand back immediately and turned towards the stranger. The stranger did the same, staring skeptically at him.

“Urgh! Craig! Youcan, hng, keep the book!” the blond cried out, hands flying towards his hair. His shirt was buttoned wrong as usual and there was a large coffee stain on his pants leg. “I just, ugh, findmytextbook! Ah! This is too muchpressure! I shouldn’thavecome here!”

Craig was at a loss for words. Out of anyone he could’ve encountered in the library, anyone he could’ve brushed hands with, it was Tweek Tweak. The exact Tweek Tweak that stole his heart. 

“Nah, you can keep it,” he replied, trying to keep his face blushing. “I already have too many books on space anyway. I think Professor Gwen would like it more if you read it.” Hearing Craig say this, Tweek’s face broke into a smile and he grabbed the book, thanking him. He then ran away, checking out the book and leaving just like that. That left Craig standing in the middle of the bookshelves, dumbfounded by what just happened until the librarian kicked him out. 

He barely remembered going back to his dorm room. His mind was racing with a million thoughts as he speed walked his way back. He must’ve looked horrible when he came back because Kenny immediately began asking questions when he walked back into his room.

Craig found his sister in his room, replacing Damien, as he lounged on his bed, reading the selection of books he transported from the library. “You finally following Dad’s footsteps? Because he would be sooo proud seeing you read these books.”

“Fuck off, Tricia. And get off my bed. Go back to your own fucking dorm,” he snapped, falling face flat onto Kenny’s bed. The last thing he needed was his sister hear his crisis. “McCormick, from when was Tweek into space.”

Craig’s sudden question gained everyone’s attention. Kenny shifted awkwardly from side to side as he stared at his friend. “Say what now?”

“He was at the library, holding the book that I’ve wanted since the beginning of school this year. He also said he lost his astronomy book,” he mumbled, covering his face with Kenny’s pillow. Kenny made a gasping noise and Craig was 99% sure that the blond was grinning his ass off. 

“Kenny, are you helping my brother get laid? Because I think he’s still too young for that and-”

“Tricia Ruby Tucker! You better leave this fucking room right now or else I will make you regret your existence!” Craig yelled, lifting his head up. The only response he got was a middle finger shoved in his face and the dorm door being slammed closed. 

Clyde immediately erupted into a fit of laughter, falling onto his bed. Kenny soon followed him, half choking from the lack of oxygen. Craig groaned loudly at the state of his friends and returned to his bed, hoping that they’ll calm down soon.  _ Leave it to Tricia to make unnecessary comments. _

When he arrived at his bed, he noticed that his stack of books was a lot smaller than he remembered. He counted them carefully and scowled. He was missing 5 books. “That little piece of…” he muttered under his breath.

“If you’re wondering where your books went,” Clyde began once he got his breathing controlled, “they’re with your sister. She said that she had to learn more dark magic so she can beat you up.” 

“And you let her?” 

“You can’t blame me, man. She scares me. At least you don’t use dark magic on other people, well not usually. I’ve seen her beat up kids and let me tell you, she’s fucking scary,” he cried out, using his arms as emphasis. 

Kenny, who finally stopped coughing after his laughing fit, stood up and dusted off his pants, giving Clyde a look. He cleared his throat and tapped his wrist lightly, smirking. “Isn’t it time for your so called ‘date’ with Bebe?”

Color drained from Clyde’s face as his mouth fell open.  _ Typical Clyde. He probably forgot.  _ He let out a short “fuck” and made a mad dash for the bathrooms, grabbing what looked like clean clothes on the way there. 

“Since when did he get himself a date with Bebe?” Craig asked, turning towards the hooded boy. Kenny shrugged and pulled his hood down, revealing his whole face to him.

“It’s not actually a date. Clyde’s just calling it one to make himself feel better. It’s actually just a study session in the common room with other students in their charms class,” Kenny stated, amused. Craig wanted to ask more, but got interrupted by Clyde bursting out of the bathroom and sprinted out the door, hair still half wet. 

“If anything, he’ll make Bebe less interested in him at this state,” he commented once Clyde left and they closed the door. Kenny let out a hearty laugh and sat next to Craig, bringing Stripe closer to him. Craig glared over at him but didn’t say anything. He gave up on trying to stop his roommates from cuddling the little critter. 

He sighed and picked up one of the books he took from the library earlier and began reading it. Reading the foreign text was no problem for him, he practically grew up with it. Speaking and memorizing the patterns were a bit more complicated. 

“So you said Tweek misplaced his astronomy textbook huh?” Kenny asked out of nowhere, causing Craig to freeze up. He slowly turned to the blond and gave him a dirty look.

“You have something to do this don’t you,” he hissed out, closed his book shut. All he got in response was a lousy shrug, making Craig more frustrated. “McCormick, when you said you were going to help me with my love life I didn’t think-”

“Whoa, are you complaining about my ways of playing cupid? Because without me, you wouldn’t have even talked to Tweek. Dude, I just gave you a chance! He doesn’t know shit about astronomy, but you do! So just tutor him like you do with Kyle and boom! You guys will get together in no time!” he claimed with a sly grin. 

He made his way back to his bed and pulled out a familiar astronomy book from underneath it. “Here we have Tweek Tweak’s textbook, which he is not getting back by the way, unless you pull your shit together and go talk with him.”

Craig felt his face beginning to heat up and scowled, disliking the sudden attention Kenny was giving him. He preferred to stay on the sidelines, watching others get involved in love and drama. He just wanted to live a normal, boring school life. Yet, here Kenny was, butting his head in and making decisions on his own. 

He turned away from the unhooded boy and pulled the strings of his chullo down. The action allowed the nouriette to cover his flushed face as Kenny chuckled loudly in the background. “Fuck off, McCormick. No one asked you to help.”

“Hey man, I’m doing all of this for free. If you were Clyde, I would be asking you for money. But since you are my best buddy-”   
  
“Since when were we best buddies.”

“I will settle for information regarding why you like my friend,” he finished. Craig froze up, not believing the words he heard.  _ Is McCormick really asking me why I like Tweek?  _ He shook his head. No, no, I must’ve heard something wrong.

“Craig, I can hear you thinking. Just tell me how you feel about our dear twitchy blond and you’re done! I’ll help you rest of your Hogwarts life for free,” Kenny wiggled his eyebrows suggesting at Craig, to which he replied with his signature middle finger. 

The blond pouted, clearly unhappy with the response he received. He sulked to his bed and fell onto it, giving up on Craig. He began humming quietly, completely taking his attention off of him.

Tension grew thick between the two slytherins as Kenny continued humming and left Craig confused on his bed. Craig bit the inside of his mouth, fidgeting with his fingers.  _ He does have a fair point. He is doing a lot for me and he doesn’t even know why he’s doing it.  _

“The first time I met him,” Craig started, laying down on his bed. He stared at the top of his bed set, eyeing the space poster he had stuck there. “I thought he was just another kid. A weird one too. He twitched too much, he made weird noises, and he screamed a lot. He was the last person I wanted to talk with. 

“But the longer I thought that the more I noticed him. The way he pushed his hair out his eyes before casting a spell. How his tongue sticks out when he laughs. But most importantly, how blue his eyes were. They’re like small universes right there. I get lost in them so easily. All I want to do is stare into those beautiful orbs, but that would be weird huh? 

“He’s probably not into guys, McCormick. Like, have you seen him? I don’t see why the girls in our grade aren’t swooning over him yet,” he laughed quietly to himself at the end, reaching up to his poster. The stars on it reminded him of the small specks in Tweek’s eyes. 

“Dude, you have it so fucking bad.”

* * *

 

Confessions with Kenny wasn’t so bad. He only teased him every second after Craig had stopped talking. Even Clyde, who came back gloomy due to the fact that Bebe ignored him the whole study session, caught on immediately.

“And that’s when Butters decided to fly right into a tree to save a squirrel! Can you believe his kind heart?” Kenny gushed, pulling on his tie. The three were making their way to the dining hall, careful not to trip on their robes. Craig yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes.

When he removed his hand from his eye, he noticed something in the far distance. He stopped in his tracks squinting. “Craig?” Clyde asked, turning back. “Unless there is a hot girl waiting to ask me out, let’s go get some breakfast.”

“Is that Marsh holding hands with Testaburger?”

Silence fell between the previously loud boys. All three heads turned to the other side of the dining hall where Stan Marsh stood. 

Stan was entering the dining hall, smiling and holding hands with the one and only Wendy Testaburger. Wendy’s friends who saw the two hooted and clapped their hands as they walked by. The smile on Stan’s face was radiant, the happiest Craig had ever seen him.

Craig’s thoughts raced immediately. The couple had walked passed the ravenclaw table where they usually sat together.  _ That only leaves the… _

“They’re going to the gryffindor table,” Kenny gasped out, finishing Craig’s thoughts. He nodded briskly and followed them, hoping to get there before they did. The other two slytherins looked at each other and followed after him, getting the idea. 

But, by the time the three had made it to the gryffindor tables, it was too late. Stan was sitting diagonally from where Kyle sat, a shit eating grin on his face. He kept leaning into Wendy, whispering something in her ear, causing her to blush and giggle. 

Even from afar, Craig could see the frustration building up within Kyle. His hands were pulled into tight fists, slightly shaking on the table. He refused to look in their general direction. But that didn’t stop Stan. It was as if he was doing it on purpose. 

He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t just stand and witness a friend aimlessly tortured like that. Craig walked up to the tables, pushing himself into the crowd of people. Conversations at the table died down slightly, Kyle’s friends eyeing him down. Even Stan stopped flirting with Wendy to watch.

The redhead looked up, eyes slightly red as if he’s been rubbing them a lot. Craig never really approached him outside of their study sessions so he looked taken back by his actions. 

“Hey, Broflovski. Aren’t you going to sit with us today or are we too much of a loser for that?” Craig asked, raised an eyebrow. Kyle looked back at his friends and back at him as if considering his options. “They can come too, you know.”

Kyle’s face lit up, along with Tweek and Butters, and the three stood up, leaving the gryffindor table. Butters led Tweek towards the slytherin table, waving towards Jimmy as he did so. Kyle smiled at Craig, mouthing ‘thank you’ and followed his friends to the other table. 

Craig gave the gryffindor table one last look, meeting eyes with Stan. For a brief second, he caught something in his eye.  _ Was it jealousy?  _ Amused by his reaction, Craig smirked at the raven haired boy and flipped him off, irritating him further. Stan gritted his teeth and turned away, Wendy holding his shoulder reassuringly. 

He slowly began walking away, followings his friends’ calls. They all sat at the slytherin table, waving to him to hurry up. 

For once, Craig felt welcomed at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late ass update!!
> 
> My finals and school recently just ended so I'll be back on my updating schedule :)
> 
> I have summer courses again at the end of the month so I'll try to update a lot more before that
> 
> Yay, a chapter from Craig's POV!! Do you guys like these chapters switching from POV of the first three (Stan, Kyle, Tweek) to POV of the other characters or do you prefer only the first three POVs?
> 
> Thank you guys so much for the continued support!! It really gives me the motivation to keep writing!
> 
> I have stuff planned for the future of the story, but I'm kinda stuck on how to proceed things from here. So, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please comment below! I'd love to hear your suggestions and add them to the story!
> 
> Along with that, if you have any specific scenes from the show you want to see or pairings you like, please comment them too! I'll try to put them into the story as best as I can!
> 
> Thank you guys so much! Love you guys!
> 
> -egg


	15. Best Friends

It wasn’t long before Stan fell unbelievably in love with Wendy Testaburger. But it also wasn’t long before his heart got completely shattered by her.

From the moment he laid eyes on her during their first shared quidditch match, he knew he was a goner. The way her raven hair moved as the wind caressed it, the way her expression changed when she concentrated. Her smile when her shot made the goal. Everything about her was perfect in his opinion. 

He then spent the next month working up the courage to become friends with her. He started by talking to her during class and asking questions, even starting study sessions together just to spend more time with her. The more time he spent with her the brighter his world became. She made him happy, happier than he ever felt before. 

Maybe it was because he grew up around parents who constantly argued with each other. Because of them, the idea of having a close relationship with someone he liked terrified him. He didn’t want to fuck up a perfectly good friendship. 

On the other hand, he admired his parents’ relationship when they weren’t arguing. How happy his mom made his dad. Stan wanted to make Wendy happy and not argue. He wanted to have a relationship that his parents’ couldn’t achieve.

And finally, after a month of awkward flirting, he got the info from Red that Wendy liked him back. That was all he needed to ask the ravenclaw out. They had gotten together before their winter break and spent most of their break together at Hogwarts.

Unlike his previous year at Hogwarts, this winter break was spent with his girlfriend, just relaxing and enjoying her company. Stan didn’t come up with any crazy schemes and nor did his friends. Even Cartman seemed to leave him alone when he was with Wendy. 

But it all went downhill after the break was over. 

For the first time in the months he started pouring all his attention to Wendy, Stan noticed how distant his friends were being. They stopped interacting in their shared classes. They no longer sat at the gryffindor table when he came over and had stopped making eye contact with him. All they wanted to do is spend time with Craig and those guys, and not him.

Wendy, on the other hand, still kept in contact with her friends. They always came to talk to her in the middle of her date, making comments about their relationship and how cute it was. He couldn’t help but feel jealous of her relationship with her friends. How could he not?

Stan knew he had to do something. If he didn’t do something now, he might not be able to ever talk to his friends again. Yet, he didn’t. He had allowed his friends to drift away.

“I mean good riddance, right?” he asked Wendy in the middle of their dates. “Like, they’re hanging out with Craig and those guys now. And you know how they are. They’re assholes!”

Wendy gave him a side glance and unhooked their hands. There was an unreadable expression on her face so Stan decided to keep talking. “They didn’t even support me when I first told them I liked you! Especially Kyle. He always told me that he’ll support all my decisions, but look at him now! All he cares about are his grades a-”

“Stan, I can’t believe you’re doing this to me right now,” Wendy cut in, crossing her arms. He looked back at his girlfriend, surprised. He didn’t know what she was talking about.  _ Did I do something wrong in the date today? Maybe I’m wearing shitty clothes. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to hold hands with her. _

He stared at her blankly, unable to understand where her rage was coming from. “Every single time we go on a date, this is all you talk about. Kyle this, Kyle that. I get you guys are super best friends, but you don’t talk to him anymore! Yet you’re here talking about him every second of our date.

“And it’s not just that. Are you seriously shit talking your friends right now? It’s not their fault that you stopped talking to them. You could’ve prevented them from hanging out with the horrible Craig you hate so much.

“And that too! You act like Craig and his friends are the worst people in the world, but what have they ever done to you that makes them so horrible? Maybe if you actually talk to them and stop making assumptions about them, you’ll learn that they’re not what you say they are. Follow your friends' example,” Wendy huffed out, inching away from Stan. Even after hearing her words, he didn’t get where her rage was coming from.  _ She rants all the time. Why can’t I? _

“All I’m saying is, it’s all Kyle’s fault that I feel so stressed all the time and he’s the one putting strain on our relationship-”

“There you go on about Kyle again!” she yelled, turning towards Stan. “You literally can’t speak a single sentence without mentioning him! And you’re saying that he’s the one putting a strain on our relationship? I think it’s you.”

“Me?! I’m the one stressing the relationship? How is that fucking possible? I’ve done nothing but make you happy. I’ve dealt with all your little tantrums-”

“ _ Dealt with them? _ Your method of dealing with them is acting like they don’t exist! You never help me because all you care about is your own feelings! I can’t believe I didn’t realize this sooner. You’re just a self-centered douchebag,” she spat out. Stan felt every word that came out of her mouth stabbing into him. 

“Wendy, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize-”

“Of course you didn’t. All you care about is yourself and your feeling, Stan. It’s always about you and how your friends aren’t treating you right. But maybe you deserved that. Maybe you’re the one not treating them right in the first place.

“I’m sorry but I can’t do this anymore. I’m breaking up with you,” Wendy whispered the last part like it pained her and walked away, leaving Stan standing alone in the corridors. He reached a hand to her, but she paid no attention. She was gone from his sight within seconds.

Stan felt his whole world crashing down on him. His head spun and his knees buckled, causing him to lose balance and slide onto the floor. Wendy’s harsh words rang in his ears, circling around his mind. Hot tears fell like a waterfall down his cheeks, his body succumbing to his emotions.

He didn’t know what he did wrong. Did he do something wrong? Was he really just like his dad, only able to think about himself?  _ No, I can’t be. I’ll never be like him. I promised myself that I’ll never be like him. _

He didn’t know how long he spent on the ground, crying his eyes out. He could hear footsteps around him, but no one stopped to see what was happening. Finally, a pair of shoes stopped in front of him, making Stan hope that it was Wendy coming back for him. 

“You look like shit, Marsh,” a very un-feminine voice filled his ears. He recognized that monotone voice too well. Craig. Fucking Craig.  He glared up at the slytherin, half expecting to find a sneering face followed by his asshole friends. He was surprised to find that Craig was standing in front of him alone with his usual neutral expression.

“What the fuck do you want, Tucker,” Stan hissed back, already annoyed by the presence of him. Out of anyone that could have found him in the corridors, it just had to be fucking Craig. With tears still streaming down his face, he stood up and curled his fingers into a tight fist. 

As he stood up, he came face to face with Craig’s unreadable expression, which only fueled his anger. Who knows what the monotonous asshole was thinking about behind the bored face. Just knowing that he could be making fun of him without showing it made Stan want to punch him in the face. 

_ It’s all his fault that my friends stopped talking to me. If it weren’t for him, Kyle would still be my best friend. If he didn’t- _

Anger and jealousy blinded Stan. The hate he felt towards Craig that he had bottled up for months regarding his friends exploded. He pulled back his clenched fist and punched Craig with all his might. He settled for punching the slytherin in his gut, making him grunt and topple over.  

Craig immediately pulled out his wand, glaring back at Stan with a glint in his eye that he was all too familiar with. It was the same glint Kenny had in his eye when he was about to prank someone. Maybe it was something all slytherins shared.

“What the fuck was that for!” he yelled, gripping his wand tightly. He staggered towards Stan and stuck his wand under his chin, slightly digging into his skin. “If this is about you and your shitty relationship with your friends-”

“Shitty!? Nothing about our friendship was shitty! It’s not my fault that Kyle didn’t support my feelings towards Wendy! It’s not my fault that Kenny, Tweek, and Butters decided to support Kyle and not me! None of this is my fault! I’m the victim here!

“And you! You’re the reason why they hate me now! You used your voodoo dark magic on them so that they’ll follow you. So that they’ll replace me with you,” Stan stated, emphasizing his words. Craig stared at him in disbelief, removing the wand. 

“That’s why you punched me? Because  _ I  _ apparently cursed your friends to like me better?” he turned away from Stan, putting his wand away. “Is that stick in your ass that far in? I thought you were better than this.”

“What do you mean by that? I’m the-”

“I fucking swear if you call yourself the victim again I will curse you,” Craig muttered lowly and fixed his attention back to Stan. His eyes were dark, the glint still present. His cold gaze sent chills down his spine, but he couldn’t stand down against him. 

“Oh yeah, curse me, just like how you cursed Tweek back at his first quidditch match. I saw the fear in his eyes when he woke up, Craig. You scared the shit out of him. Yet you act like you’re still his friend now? You’re just a two-faced dark wizard. Why did Hogwarts even accept someone like you?” Stan sneered. He must’ve hit a sensitive area for Craig because the taller boy froze and did not reply.

He observed the slytherin as he stared at him as if he was analyzing Stan’s every move. “Oh? Too much of a pussy to do shit without dark magic backing you up?”

Before Stan could torment the boy again, he felt pain shoot up his back. He looked around his surrounds, finding himself pinned to the wall by Craig.  _ How did he move so quickly? I thought I was stronger than him.  _

“You know what Kyle says every fucking time we have our study sessions together? He always talks about how much he misses you. You, the arrogant douchebag with a stick up your ass. I can’t fucking believe him,” he growled, clutching Stan’s collar tightly.

“After causing him so much pain, he still cares about your dumb ass. I would kill to have friends like that, Marsh. But you’re apparently too blind to even see that. I thought you were better than this. Can’t believe I thought someone this idiotic as a rival.”

With that, Craig let go of Stan, allowing his body to fall onto the ground. He turned back and left without a word, just like Wendy, and left Stan alone with his thoughts once more.

* * *

Stan roamed the halls without a clear destination, still shaken by the afternoon events. He could still hear Wendy’s cold words in his ears and feel Craig’s cold gaze. He shoved his hands in his pocket roughly and looked down, thinking back to what the stoic boy had said. 

“Kyle misses me…” he mumbled to himself. He had pushed the thought of his former best friend far aside when he had fallen for Wendy. To him, it didn’t seem relevant. Kyle didn’t support his connection with her and Stan didn’t appreciate that.

At the time it felt like the right decision to make and it didn’t bother him. He was happy with Wendy. But now? Having the happy memories with the redhead jarred by Craig left him lonelier than before. 

“Watch where you’re going, conformist,” someone warned lowly in front of him. Pulled away from his thoughts, Stan looked up, realizing that he was no longer inside of the castle. Before him stood two slytherin boys, both wearing all black. The one with red streaks in his hair eyed him down, frowning.

“You look like you hate life and it’s pain as much as we do,” he said, nudging the smaller boy. The smaller boy, who looked like he was a first year, nodded along and pointed to a large tree out by the lake. 

“If you’re a nonconformist, go see Henrietta and Michael. They’ll help you find your place,” he whispered. And with that, the two boys scattered along towards Professor McGonagall’s office.

Confused, Stan remained frozen in place, analyzing each option presented to him. He could go see the two kids the boys mentioned and get this supposed ‘help’. Or he could go find Kyle and apologize for all the shit he had caused.

He gritted his teeth hard at the thought of apologizing. He didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t his fault that Kyle was offended by Wendy replacing him. He was just being butthurt. 

Stan shook off the guilt he felt towards Kyle and made his way towards the large tree, leaving the thoughts of Kyle and Wendy behind.

* * *

Stan didn’t know what he expected to find when he got to the tree. Maybe he wanted answers to the mysterious invite the boys left him. Or maybe he wanted to see something so life changing that made the trip to the tree worth it.

But the only thing he found were two kids sitting under a tree, reciting poems to each other. They both dressed in all black, much like the boys he saw earlier. He could make out eyeliner underneath both of their eyes.

Stan stared at the duo for a while, shocked and unable to speak.  _ Why did I need to come to see some emo kids?  _ Then, the emo girl noticed him and gestured to the emo boy, who looked just as surprised. 

The emo boy closed the notebook he was holding and took out his wand cautiously, watching his every move. The girl, on the other hand, looked annoyed to be interrupted and stood up.

“Who are you and what do you want,” the girl demanded. She stuck a pipe in between her lips and took a large drag from it.  _ Is that legal?  _ The boy looked at him skeptically and drank someone that reminded him distinctively of Tweek.  _ Is that coffee? _

“The uh two emo-”

“Did you just call us emo!?” the girl cried out, glaring at Stan. “We’re goth! There is a difference between us, you fucking conformist!” 

He stared back at the girl in awe, intimidated by her. Her eyes bore into him coldly, freezing him from the insides. He wanted to continue talking, but his voice didn’t seem to work. These goth kids were scaring the fuck out of him.

“The two goth kids told me to come see you,” Stan finally managed out. “Henrietta and Michael, right?” 

The girl, Henrietta, raised an eyebrow and glanced at Michael, who was doing the same. The two seemed to have a silent conversation between them before turning back to Stan. Their expressions were a lot warmer than before. Henrietta slowly sat back down and patted a space next to her, motioning him to sit.

“You should’ve said that earlier. If Pete and Firkle told you to come, you are not a threat to us,” she mumbled, flipping through her notebook. Stan peeked over her shoulder and tried to sneak a look into her notes. 

Henrietta must’ve sensed something because she shut her notebook closed once Stan started moving, looking back at him. She gave him the side eye, making him feel guilty for his actions. There was someone about her that said ‘don’t mess with me’.

Michael cleared his throat loudly, gaining the gryffindor’s attention. His eyes scanned him, almost like he was trying to find every flaw in him. “Pete and Firkle found something in you that said that you were hurting. But what? What makes you think life is pointless?”

Sweat began forming on Stan’s forehead. Was this some kind of initiation to join the group? If so, he wanted to be accepted by these goths. After losing his friends due to the lack of acceptance, all he wanted was to fit in with a group. 

“I don’t believe in love. That shit doesn’t fucking exist in our meaningless lives,” he scowled, the words flowing out from his mouth before he knew it. He didn’t really know if he truly believed in what he said, but it seemed to satisfy the two goths. 

Henrietta nodded approvingly and handed Stan a cup of steaming coffee. “Welcome, Stan. You won’t be alone here.”

* * *

Michael left shortly after, claiming he had to go work on a ‘conformist group project’ for charms, leaving Stan with Henrietta.

He had nothing against the goth girl, but if he was being completely honest, he was terrified of her. She was beginning to warm up to him, even cracking a few jokes, but Stan couldn’t brush off the harsh glares she gave him when they first met.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence underneath the large tree, waiting for someone to initiate conversation. Stan held his coffee mug tightly, staring down at the content inside of it. The black liquid seemed to taunt him, urging him to take a sip.

“The coffee’s going to get cold if you don’t drink it soon, Raven,” Henrietta pointed out in a surprisingly soft voice. He glanced at her, confused, and put his cup down.

“I don’t really drink coffee. Also, Raven?” he asked. She took a long drag from her pipe and cracked a small smile. It must’ve been a rare gesture, evident from the slight blush on her cheeks. 

“Stan is a bland name,” she stated bluntly. “Raven is more goth, don’t you think?” Stan felt himself beginning to smile. Perhaps this was her way of expressing that Stan was part of the goths now. 

“I like that name. Thanks, Henrietta,” he replied with a grin. 

After that, the two began talking nonchalantly, the tension no longer present. Henrietta informed him that her, Michael, and Pete, the red haired boy from before, were upperclassmen in 3rd year. On the other hand, the short goth, Firkle, was still in 1st year. 

“Michael, Pete, and I met through our shared interests in the dark arts,” she started. Stan felt himself wince at the word ‘dark arts’, remembering his previous interaction with Craig. “Our first impressions of each other weren't the best, but here we still are.

“Firkle joined us after hearing about our connection with the dark arts and Cthulhu. He may still be young, but he sure does know a lot.”

Stan fiddled with his fingers hearing this new information. He didn’t know how to react to it. These people that he was currently befriending were dark magic users, much like Craig. Yet, they seemed nothing like him.

The goth kids were more welcoming than he was and they cared more for one another. Craig was just a friend stealer.

“What is it, Raven? Do you have a problem with dark magic?” Henrietta inquired, examining her coffee cup.  _ Do I tell the truth? But I don’t want them to hate me… _

“I can understand why you might think that way,” Stan’s eyes shot up to meet with the slytherin’s, wide with shock. “Many people do. We all did before we learned more about it.

“Wizards only call our magic ‘dark’ for its unexplainable convenience. Sure, there are curses and hexes that can cause unbelievable damages. But the most common ones are more for everyday uses. It’s a lot more useful than regular magic.

“Sadly, not everyone can use it. Only those with the lineage for dark magic can use it without harm done to them. But even for those like us, with lineage, has our limits for magic. Using powerful curses causes us damage too. 

“I’m sure you know some dark magic users in your grade. Craig Tucker, Rebecca Skeeter, Leslie Meyers, the list goes on. It’s not an uncommon thing, Raven,” she finished her sentence with a sip of coffee. Stan stared at the ground, dumbfounded by the new information.

“Is that really it? Do they really not harm people?”

She scoffed as if she was offended by what he just said. “No student at Hogwarts is powerful enough to use dark magic for harming others. It’ll do more damage on the user, not the opponent.”

Suddenly, Stan was overcome by guilt. Everything that he had said about Craig and how his dark magic had ruined his friendship with Kyle. The stupid argument he got into with Kyle when Tweek fell off his broomstick. He should’ve been there for his friend instead of bitching over his stupid prejudice.

“Henrietta, I- I’ve done something horrible,” he muttered out, tears brimming his eyes. “I need to apologize to them. Every single one of them. I was so fucking full of myself.”

Henrietta sighed and shook her head, reminding Stan a lot of his mom. His mom had the same expression when he did something she disapproved of. She put her cup down and looked straight into his eyes, but something was different about them. Her brown eyes were warm, almost like hot chocolate. 

Stan found himself admitting to Henrietta everything that he had done for the last few months. He began with the quidditch match where he first met Wendy and how he started acting differently to his friends after that. He felt progressively worse as he continued talking, realizing how horrible of a friend he was. Henrietta listened silently and used her pipe. 

She remained quiet after he finished talking, deep in thought. By the time she finally spoke up, the sun had started setting behind them. “Go talk to Kyle. Apologize to him. Tell him everything you told me now.”

Her voice was commanding and Stan knew he couldn’t back out of it. It’s not that he didn’t want to make up with Kyle. Making up with him was his top priority right now. But he couldn’t get himself to stand up and go find him. He was terrified. 

Henrietta groaned and poked his arm with the end of her pipe, urging him to hurry up and leave. “Come on, Raven. Stop being a pussy and go.”

Fighting back his fears of rejection, Stan pulled his reluctant body up and began trudging his way back to the castle. 

“Raven,” Henrietta cried out behind him. “You’re welcome back to the goths anytime, you know. Just don’t join the conformists.”

* * *

Stan practically ran back inside the castle, almost running into three professors on the way there. Students were starting to wander around the hallways again and were heading towards the dining hall for dinner. Dread sprouted within him.

When he finally made it inside the dining hall, each table was tightly packed with hungry students. His eyes anxiously scanned the tables as he walked into the hall. 

Then, his feet stopped, eyes catching the familiar bright green hat. Kyle was sitting at the end of the slytherin table with Craig and those guys. There was a bright smile on his face as he laughed at something Jimmy said. 

Picking up the bits of courage left in him, Stan slowly made his way to the slytherin table. Just at that moment, Kyle’s attention shifted away from the group, meeting eyes with him. The smile that was previously on his face disappeared and was replaced with bitterness.

No one noticed Kyle’s sudden change in expression until Tweek asked him a question, only to get ignored. Frustrated, he followed Kyle’s gaze, where Stan stood awkwardly. The blond gawked at his presence and screamed. 

Tweek’s scream gained the group’s attention. Every single person had their eyes trained on Stan now, each with a different variation of hate and shock. Craig glared at him while stabbing his salad rather aggressively, probably remembering their interaction earlier in the day. 

He knew that if he didn’t take action right now, he was going to be bombarded with questions he couldn’t answer. Wordlessly, he walked up to the table and grabbed Kyle’s arm. Before he could yank his arm away, Stan pulled him away from the tables and out the dining hall. He could hear Kenny and Butters calling after Kyle, but he could care less about them right now. 

Kyle seemed to still be in shock when Stan let go of his arm outside the dining hall. He rubbed the area where he held absentmindedly and stared at the ground, mouth slightly open. Stan stared at his quiet friend, not knowing where to start.

“Look, Kyle-,” he started, but he got cut off almost immediately.

“If you’re going to apologize, then fucking save it,” Kyle growled out, still not making eye contact. “That’s the last fucking thing I want to hear from you. After everything that you’ve done, do you really think one simple apology is going to fix things immediately?”

Stan opened his mouth to state his reasoning, but he raised a hand to silence him, indicating that he was on a roll now. 

“Do you know how much fucking pain you caused in our group? Do you know how many panic attacks  _ you _ caused Tweek to get? That poor boy couldn’t even go to breakfast the first week you started ignoring us because he thought it was his fault you left. He couldn’t face seeing you for the longest time.

“Do you know how many hospital trips Kenny had while you were gone? And how every time he would wake up, broken and half conscious, and ask where you were? Do you know how fucking heartbroken he sounded when we told him that you won’t come anymore? 

“And how no matter what horrible shit you did, Butters never spoke badly about you? No matter what other people said about you, he always fucking defended you, calling you a great friend. He said that you were just having a difficult time right now and forgave you right away. But you wouldn’t know any of that, would you?

“And you wouldn’t know how many fucking days and nights I spent crying, knowing that my best friend would never talk to me again. How fucking painful it was seeing your empty bed in the dorm at night because you refused to sleep in the same room as me. How I would turn next to me, expecting you to be there during a conversation, only to remember that you would rather be with-”

Stan couldn’t handle this anymore. Every word Kyle spoke cut into him like a knife, reminding him of the damage he caused. He grabbed the redhead’s arm and pulled him into a tight hug, just like the old times. But this time, Kyle didn’t resist.

Instead, he buried his face into his shoulder, making Stan acutely aware of how wet his face was.  _ I made him cry. I made my fucking best friend cry.  _

“I’m sorry,” Stan whispered into his ear, voice breaking. He was starting to cry as well. “I’m sorry I was such a self-centered douchebag. I know I shouldn’t be forgiven after all the horrible shit I’ve done to you guys. But holy fuck, I miss you guys so much.”

Kyle gripped him tightly after hearing this. His grip sent warmth through Stan’s body that he never felt before. A pleasant warmth that spread through his body like a wildfire. It didn’t even compare to any of the hugs Wendy gave him. 

“I missed you too, Stan. I missed you so fucking much.”

And the two boys remained there throughout the duration of dinner. Hugging and crying on each other’s shoulders. Their other friends were quite surprised when they finished dinner and saw them in the hallway, hugging desperately. But no one dared to ruin their special moment together. They deserved it after everything they went through.

Expect for Clyde, who wanted to yell, “Gay!” to them, but got his mouth covered by Token before he could even attempt it.

* * *

For the first time in months, Stan and Kyle sat together in their shared dorm room, enjoying one another’s presence. The two stayed up late, catching each other on the news that they missed during their times of silence. Stan was surprised by how fast he and Kyle had made up, talking as if nothing had happened.

Now, the two were sitting with their sides pressed together, staring out the dorm room window. The stars outside were glowing in the pitch black sky. Stan turned to Kyle, finding his eyes starting to droop, indicating that he was about to sleep. In his half open eyes, he could see the reflection of the stars from the window. 

“Stan,” he mumbled, almost too quiet to the ear. “How did you find the courage to talk to me today?”

For the longest time, Stan remained quiet, staring at his tired friend. He swore Kyle fell asleep a few times while he was thinking. 

“I got advice from some of the best advisors in Hogwarts, the goth kids.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh, finally a new chapter :)
> 
> Sorry guys, I know I promised to get back into schedule, but my summer courses were a lot harder with more homework than I thought.
> 
> I'll try to update as much as possible, but I'm going to be traveling around so I don't know how often that'll be, sorry :(
> 
> Thank you guys for your kind words on the previous chapter :)) They were really heartwarming. Also! Your inputs and ideas for ideas for future chapters really help me write chapters so if you have some, please comment!!
> 
> As usual, if you have any suggestion for scenes, character interactions, or ships, please comment below! I'll do my best to input all of your suggestions.
> 
> Thanks guys! I love you all :)
> 
> -egg


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